bitter

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Old English bitter

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈbɪtə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈbɪtər/, [ˈbɪɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtə(r)
• Homophone: bidder (in some dialects)

Adjective

bitter (comparative bitterer or more bitter, superlative bitterest or most bitter)

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

   The coffee was bitter.

2. Harsh, piercing or stinging

   A bitter wind blew from the north.

   1999: It was at the end of February, ... when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors.... — Neil Gaiman, Stardust, pg. 31 (Perennial paperback edition)

3. Hateful or hostile

   They're bitter enemies.

4. Cynical and resentful

   I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

Usage notes

• The one-word comparative form bitterer and superlative form bitterest exist, but are less common than their two-word counterparts more bitter and most bitter.

Derived terms

• bitter pill to swallow

See also

• bitter end

Antonyms

• ("cynical and resentful"): optimistic

Synonyms

• ("cynical and resentful"): jaded

Translations

having an acrid taste

Albanian: hidhur Arabic: مر (ar) (murr) Armenian: դառն (hy) (daṙn), կծու (hy) (kçu), մռու (hy) (mṙu) Aromanian: amar Belarusian: горкі (be) (hórki) Bulgarian: горчив (bg) (gorčiv) Catalan: amarg Chamicuro: pshawa Chinese: Mandarin: 苦澀 (cmn), 苦涩 (cmn) (kǔsè), 苦 (cmn) (kǔ) Czech: hořký (cs) m. Dalmatian: amur Danish: bitter (da) Dutch: bitter (nl) Esperanto: amara (eo) Estonian: mõru (et), kibe (et) Ewe: veve Fijian: qona Finnish: kitkerä (fi), karvas (fi) French: amer (fr) German: bitter (de) Greek: πικρός (el) (pikrós) m. Guaraní: ro Hebrew: מר (he) (már) m., מרה (he) (mará) f.; מריר (he) (marír) m., מרירה (he) (merirá) f. Hindi: कड़वा (hi) (kaṛvā) Hungarian: keserű (hu) Interlingua: amar (ia) Italian: amaro (it) m., amara (it) f. Japanese: 苦い (ja) (にがい, nigai) Korean: 쓰다 (ko) (sseuda)

Kurdish: Sorani: تاڵ (ku) (tAL) Latgalian: ryugts m. Latin: amarus (la) Latvian: rūgts (lv), sīvs (lv) Lithuanian: kartus (lt) m. Macedonian: горчлив (mk) (górčliv) Marathi: कडू (kadū) Old Church Slavonic: горькъ (gorĭkŭ) Persian: تلخ (fa) (talx) Polish: gorzki (pl) Portuguese: amargo (pt) Romanian: amar (ro) Russian: горький (ru) (gór'kij) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: горак (sh), грк (sh), трпак (sh), опор (sh) Roman: gorak (sh), grk (sh), trpak (sh), opor (sh) Slovak: horký (sk) Slovene: grenak (sl) Spanish: amargo (es) Swedish: bitter (sv) Tagalog: mapait (tl) Telugu: చేదు (chaedu) Thai: ขม (th) (kŏm) Tongan: kava Turkish: acı, keskin, acılı, yakıcı, sert, şiddetli; iliklere işleyen Ukrainian: гіркий (uk) (hírkyj) Urdu: کڑوا (ur) (kaṛvā) Vietnamese: đắng (vi) Welsh: chwerw (cy)

harsh, piercing or stinging

Arabic: أليم (ar) ('aliim) Armenian: սուր (hy) (sur), ծակող (hy) (çakoġ), դաժան (hy) (dažan), անողոք (hy) (anoġok’), սաստիկ (hy) (sastik) Bulgarian: остър (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: 苦 (cmn) (kǔ), 嚴酷 (cmn), 严酷 (cmn) (yánkù) Danish: bidende (da) Dutch: scherp (nl) French: dur (fr), sévère (fr)

German: bitter (de), arg (de), harsch (de), hart (de) Greek: πικρός (el) (pikrós) m. Hungarian: metsző (hu) Italian: aspro m., aspra f. (of weather gelido) Japanese: 激しい (はげしい, hageshii), 過酷な (ja) (kakoku-na), 荒々しい (ja) (araarashii) Latin: acerbus (la) Marathi: तीव्र (teewra), उग्र (ugra) Russian: горький (ru) (gór'kij), мучительный (ru) (mučítel'nyj), суровый (ru) (suróvyj)

hateful or hostile

Arabic: مقيت (ar) (maqiit), ممقوت (ar) (mamquut) Armenian: չար (hy) (čar), ամենաչար (hy) (amenačar) Bulgarian: злобен (bg), враждебен (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: 可恨 (cmn) (kěhèn), 可惡 (cmn), 可恶 (cmn) (kěwù), (hostile) 懷敵意 (cmn), 怀敌意 (cmn) (huáidíyì) Croatian: ljȗt (hr) Danish: bitter (da) Dutch: bitter (nl)

Finnish: katkera (fi) French: haineux (fr), haïssable (fr), odieux (fr), (hostile) hostile (fr) German: erbittert (de), verhasst (de), hässlich (de), (hostile) feindlich (de) Japanese: 憎らしい (ja) (nikurashii), いやな (ja) (iya-na), (hostile) 敵対 (ja) (tekitai) Latin: asper (la) Marathi: कट्टर (kaTTar) Russian: злобный (ru) (zlóbnyj), злой (ru) (zloj), ненавистный (ru) (nenavístnyj), враждебный (ru) (vraždébnyj) Swedish: bitter (sv)

cynical and resentful

Armenian: խայթող (hy) (xayt’oġ) Bulgarian: циничен (bg) Croatian: ògōrčen (hr) Danish: bitter (da), forbitret (da) Dutch: verbitterd (nl) Finnish: katkera (fi) French: amer (fr) German: verbittert (de)

Greek: πικρός (el) (pikrós) m. Hebrew: מריר (he) (marír) m., מרירה (he) (merirá) f. Latin: amarus (la) Mandarin: 心酸的 (cmn) Russian: злой (ru) (zloj), озлобленный (ru) (ozlóblennyj) Slovene: zagrenjen m., zagrenjena f., zagrenjeno n. Spanish: amargado (es) Swedish: bitter (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Breton: c'hwerv Hindi: कडुवा (ka.duvā) Indonesian: pahit, getir Interlingua: acerbe, amar

Romanian: amar m, amară f Telugu: చేదు (cEdu) Urdu: کڑوا (ka.duvā) Volapük: biedik

Noun

bitter (plural bitters)

1. (usually in the plural bitters) A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.
2. A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.
3. (nautical) A turn of a cable about the bitts.

Derived terms

• brought up to a bitter

Translations

liquid or powder used in mixed drinks or as tonic

Armenian: դառնություն (hy) (daṙnut’yun) Danish: bitter (da)

Hungarian: gyomorkeserű (hu)

type of beer

Armenian: դառը գարեջուր (hy) (daṙë gareǰur)

Danish: bitter (da)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Kurdish: تاڵی Spanish: bíter m.

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Danish

Etymology 1

From German bitter.

Adjective

bitter (neuter bittert, definite and plural bitre, comparative bitrere, superlative bitrest)

1. bitter (all meanings)

Related terms

• bitterhed
• forbitret

Noun

bitter c. (singular definite bitteren, plural indefinite bittere)

1. bitter (the liquid used in drinks)
2. A bitter form of an aquavit

Inflection

    Inflection of bitter

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative, dative and accusative	bitter	bitteren	bittere	bitterne
genitive	bitters	bitterens	bitteres	bitternes

Etymology 2

From English bitter.

Noun

bitter c.

1. bitter (type of beer - only known generally in Denmark for a few years)

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Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *bittar, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɪtər/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

bitter (comparative bitterder, superlative bitterst)

1. bitter (having an acrid taste)

Related terms

• verbitterd

See also

• (tastes) smaak; bitter, zoet, zout, zuur ^{(Category: nl:Taste) [edit]}

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German

Etymology

From Old High German bittar.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɪ.tɐ/

Adjective

bitter (comparative bitterer, superlative am bittersten)

1. bitter

Derived terms

• bitterkalt
• bittersüß

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Italian

Noun

bitter m. inv.

1. bitters

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch bitter, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

Adjective

bitter

1. bitter (taste)
2. sad, painful

Descendants

• Dutch: bitter

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Old English

Adjective

bitter

1. Alternative form of biter.

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Old High German

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbit.ter/, SAMPA: /"bit.ter/

Adjective

bitter

1. Alternative form of bittar.

References

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse bitr, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

Declension of bitter

Inflections of bitter		Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
				Attributive	Predicative
Indefinite singular	Common	bitter	bittrare		bittrast
	Neuter	bittert
Definite singular	Masc.	bittre		bittraste
	All	bittra		bittraste
Plural		bittra		bittraste

bitter

1. bitter; having an acrid taste
2. bitter; hateful
3. bitter; resentful