Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Bittersweet |
BittersweetAdjective1. Tinged with sadness; "a movie with a bittersweet ending". 2. Having a taste that is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness. Noun1. Poisonous perennial Old World vine having violet flowers and oval coral-red berries; widespread weed in North America. 2. Twining shrub of North America having three-valved yellow capsules enclosing scarlet seeds. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "bittersweet" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1896. (references) |
Synonyms: BittersweetSynonyms: semisweet (adj), bittersweet nightshade (n), climbing bittersweet (n), climbing nightshade (n), deadly nightshade (n), false bittersweet (n), poisonous nightshade (n), staff vine (n), waxwork (n), woody nightshade (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Pain | Loveliness; (beauty); sunny side, bright side; sweets; (sugar); goodness; manna in the wilderness, land flowing with milk and honey; bittersweet; fair weather. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Bittersweet |
| English words defined with "bittersweet": Celastrus ♦ Dulcamara, Dulcamarin ♦ Felonwort ♦ genus Celastrus, genus Solanum, Glycyrrhizin ♦ Helleborein ♦ Solanine, Solanum, staff tree ♦ Woody nightshade ♦ Xeronic. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | If this were an after-school special, ooh, you'd pay a bittersweet price for your little deceit (Freakazoid!; writing credit: Alan Burnett; Paul Dini) | |
Lyrics | How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me (Bittersweet Me; performing artist: R.E.M.) And it's bittersweet (Crybaby; performing artist: Mariah Carey) Languid and bittersweet (Deacon Blues; performing artist: STEELY DAN) Cos' it's a bittersweet symphony this life (BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY; performing artist: The Verve) Bittersweet memories, (I Will Always Love You; performing artist: Whitney Houston) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Bittersweet Night (1968) Bittersweet Love (1976) | |
Song Titles | Bittersweet Me (performing artist: R.E.M.) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Tuskegee Airmen enjoy bittersweet return to Hondo. |  | Bittersweet. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Summers past" by Loretta Humble Commentary: "Gazebo in disrepair makes bittersweet scene." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Russell Yates | Well, it's my house. I mean, I like the house. I, you know, I have taken most of the reminders of the children out of the house. I still have the family pictures. Again, just seeing the children is bittersweet. I love those kids. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Bittersweet" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Bittersweet" is used about 27 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 27 | 66,962 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "bittersweet": american bittersweet ♦ bittersweet chocolate ♦ bittersweet nightshade ♦ climbing bittersweet ♦ evergreen bittersweet ♦ false bittersweet ♦ Japan bittersweet ♦ japanese bittersweet ♦ oriental bittersweet. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "bittersweet"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 苦甜. (various references) | |
Danish | bittersoed natskygge (woody nightshade). (various references) | |
Dutch | bitterzoet (woody nightshade). (various references) | |
Esperanto | dolĉacida. (various references) | |
Farsi | نوعی تاجریزی , نوعی سیب تلخ , تلخ وشیرین , شیرین وتلخ . (various references) | |
Finnish | punakoiso (woody nightshade). (various references) | |
French | vigne de Judée, morelle douce-amère. (various references) | |
German | bittersüß (bitter-sweet). (various references) | |
Greek | στρύχνοσ (belladonna, nightshade), στρύχνος ο γλυκύπικρος (woody nightshade), σολανόν το γλυκόπικρο (woody nightshade), γλυκόπικροσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | מתוק מר. (various references) | |
Hungarian | kesernyés csucsor, keserédes, ebszőlő (black nightshade). (various references) | |
Italian | morella (black nightshade, woody nightshade). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 甘辛い (salty-sweet), 甘酸っぱい (sweet and sour), 悲喜交交 (joy and sorrow in succession), 悲喜交々 (joy and sorrow in succession), 悲喜こもごも (joy and sorrow in succession). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ひきこもごも (joy and sorrow in succession), あまずっぱい (sweet and sour), あまからい (salty-sweet). (various references) | |
Korean | 달콤씁쓸한. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ittersweetbay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | uva-de-cão (woody nightshade), dulcamara (woody nightshade), doce-amarga (woody nightshade), agridoce (aceto-dolce, sour-sweet, sweet-sour). (various references) | |
Spanish | agridulce (sweet-and-sour). (various references) | |
Swedish | besksöta (woody nightshade), sursöt (sour-sweet, sweet-sour). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Solanum dulcamara. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "bittersweet": bittersweetly, bittersweetness, bittersweetnesses, bittersweets. (additional references) | |
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"Bittersweet" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Burtersett, butterwort. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "bittersweet" (pronounced bi"terswē't) |
| 3 | -w ē' t | buckwheat. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-e-e-i-r-s-t-t-t-w" | |
-2 letters: bitterest. | |
-3 letters: beeriest, besetter, tweeters, twitters. | |
-4 letters: bestrew, betters, bitters, eeriest, retwist, strette, stretti, sweeter, sweetie, teeters, testier, tetters, titters, tritest, tweeter, twister, twitter, website, webster, wetters, wettest. | |
-5 letters: berets, bestir, betise, better, bister, bistre, biters, bitter, brewis, britts, etwees, resite, retest, reties, rewets, settee, setter, sitter, street, teeter, terete, testee, tester, tetter, titers. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-e-e-i-r-s-t-t-t-w" | |
+1 letter: bittersweets. | |
+2 letters: bittersweetly. | |
+4 letters: bittersweetness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Spoken 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
