Meaning

4 senses
  1. Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).

    The coffee tasted bitter.

    bitter, herb

    го́рькийgórʹkij

    гірки́йhirkýj

    causing a sharp and acrid taste experience

  2. Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.

    bitter, arg, harsch

    го́рькийgórʹkij, мучи́тельныйmučítelʹnyj, суро́выйsuróvyj

    harsh or corrosive in tone

  3. Hateful or hostile.

    They're bitter enemies.

    erbittert, verhasst, hässlich

    зло́бныйzlóbnyj, злойzloj, ненави́стныйnenavístnyj

  4. Cynical and resentful.

    I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

    verbittert

    злойzloj, озло́бленныйozlóblennyj

Examples

258 sentences
  1. The medicine tastes bitter.

    Ці ліки гіркі на смак.

    ruЭто лекарство горькое на вкус.

    deDiese Medizin schmeckt bitter.

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  2. This medicine tastes bitter.

    Ці ліки гіркі.

    ruУ этого лекарства вкус горький.

    deDiese Medizin schmeckt bitter.

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  3. This coffee tastes bitter.

    Ця кава гірка на смак.

    ruУ этого кофе горький вкус.

    deDieser Kaffee schmeckt bitter.

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  4. This coffee is too bitter.

    Ця кава занадто гірка.

    ruЭтот кофе слишком горький.

    deDieser Kaffee ist zu bitter.

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  5. He had a bitter experience.

    Він мав гіркий досвід.

    ruУ него был горький опыт.

    deEr machte eine bittere Erfahrung.

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Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
having an acrid taste:
Русский
By meaning 4
having an acrid taste:
harsh, piercing or stinging:
hateful or hostile:
cynical and resentful:
Deutsch
By meaning 4
having an acrid taste:
harsh, piercing or stinging:
hateful or hostile:
cynical and resentful:

Origin

From Middle English bitter, bittre, from Old English bitter, biter (“bitter”), from Proto-

From Middle English bitter, bittre, from Old English bitter, biter (“bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitr, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz (“bitter”), equivalent to bite + -er (agent noun suffix) used attributively. Cognate with Saterland Frisian, West Frisian, Low German, Danish, Dutch, German, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish bitter, Icelandic bitur (all meaning “bitter”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

more bitter/bitterer, most bitter/bitterest
Comparativemore bitter / bitterer Lesson
Superlativemost bitter / bitterest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

16 synonyms
cynical and resentful:jaded
Close in meaning

Antonyms

2 antonyms
cynical and resentful:optimisticB2

Word family

46 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
bitter — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto