bittersweet
/ˈbɪtɚˌswit/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.24 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.
Example Sentences
- "bittersweet chocolate"
- "The dark green mooncake is loaded with matcha-infused salted egg yolk custard, which gives a bittersweet taste."
- "The break-up was very bittersweet; they both hurt to end it, but were glad it was over."
- "[…] sensations of this kind, however delicious, are, at their first recognition, of a very tumultuous nature, and have very little of the opiate in them. They were, moreover, in the present case, embittered with certain circumstances, which being mixed with sweeter ingredients, tended altogether to compose a draught that might be termed bitter-sweet […]"
- "Her eyes still shone upon the ground, and still she prolonged the bittersweet delight at seeing this humiliation of both soul and body by asking the one question whose reply would complete her sad success."
- "He sat beside the busy street, There, where he last had seen her face: And thronging memories, bitter-sweet, Seemed yet to haunt the ancient place:"
Etymology
From Middle English bitterswete, biterswete, equivalent to bitter + sweet. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bitterswäit (“bittersweet”), West Frisian bittersoet (“bittersweet”), Dutch bitterzoet (“bittersweet”), German bittersüß (“bittersweet”), Danish bittersød (“bittersweet”), Swedish bittersöt (“bittersweet”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: bitterswete
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɪtɚˌswit/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- American usage
Inflected Forms
more bittersweet (comparative)
most bittersweet (superlative)
bitter-sweet (alternative)
bittersweets (plural)