bitterness
English · Thesaurus
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bitterness
- /ˈbɪtənəs/ UK
Where it comes from
From Middle English bitternesse, biternesse, from Old English biternes (“bitterness; grief”), equivalent to bitter + -ness.
noun bitternesses
- The quality of having a bitter taste.
-
The quality of feeling bitter; acrimony, resentment; the quality of exhibiting such feelings.
the bitterness of his words
Similar: acrimony, gall, rancor, resentment, bile
- The quality of eliciting a bitter, humiliating or harsh feeling. Nothing could assuage the bitterness of their defeat.
- Harsh cold. The bitterness of the winter caught us all by surprise.
Similar: acerbicness, acridity, acridness, acerbity, alkalinity, astringency, bitterness, wormwood · Opposite: sweetness
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: acrimony, acerbity, resentment, rancor, jaundice, gall, rancour, grief, anguish, agony, exasperation, annoyance, sorrow, pain, frustration, sadness
noun
Similar: acerbicness, acridity, acridness, acerbity, alkalinity, astringency, bitterness, wormwood · Opposite: sweetness
Translations
Every language
Talk about this word "bitterness." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bitterness. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bitterness. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bitterness "bitterness." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bitterness.Cite this
@misc{bitterness_2026,
title = {bitterness},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bitterness},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
