Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bitter pill to swallow

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.54 in modern English

Syllables: bit-ter pil-l -to swal-low
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

5

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Something unpleasant that must be accepted or endured.

noun

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bitter pill, swallow.

Example Sentences

"[T]o see himself dethroned, the object of her contempt, was a bitter pill to swallow."
""[W]e cast loose from the ice after a very careful inspection which left us no hope whatsoever of penetrating it. […] It was a bitter pill to swallow, but we decided to search for Winter quarters somewhere along the coast.""
"Giving them amnesty would be a bitter pill for the U.S. to swallow."

Inflected Forms

bitter pills to swallow (plural)

Phrases

difficult pill to swallow hard pill to swallow hard to swallow pill to swallow swallow a bitter pill tough pill to swallow sugarcoat the pill

Frequently Paired Words

difficult pill to swallow hard pill to swallow hard to swallow pill to swallow swallow a bitter pill tough pill to swallow sugarcoat the pill

Synonyms

bitter pill difficult pill to swallow hard pill to swallow tough pill to swallow

Questions

What does bitter pill to swallow mean?: Something unpleasant that must be accepted or endured.

How to pronounce bitter pill to swallow

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