sweetness

English

Alternative forms

• sweetnesse (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English swetnes, swetnesse, from Old English swētnes (“sweetness”), equivalent to sweet +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• enPR: swēt'nəs, IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtnəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

sweetness (countable and uncountable, plural sweetnesses)

1. The condition of being sweet or sugary.
2. A pleasant disposition; kindness.

   Ruth's overwhelming sweetness made Robert forget about his hopelessly low school grades.

3. The quality of giving pleasure to the mind or senses, pleasantness, agreeableness.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vii:

     The thirſt of raigne and ſweetnes of a crowne, […]
     Moou’d me to menage armes againſt thy ſtate.

4. (informal) Term of address for one's sweetheart.
   • 1986, The Smiths (band), Bigmouth Strikes Again (song)

     Sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking when I said
     I'd like to smash every tooth in your head.

   • 2011, Kimberly Gibney, Over the Edge (page 66)

     "Hey sweetness," he said. "How was practice?"

Translations

condition of being sweet or sugary

• Afrikaans: soetheid
• Albanian: ëmbëlsi (sq) f
• Arabic: حَلَاوَةٌ‎ f (ḥalāwatun)
• Aromanian: dultseatsã f
• Asturian: dulzura f
• Azerbaijani: şirinlik
• Bulgarian: сладост (bg) f (sladost)
• Catalan: dolçor (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 甜味 (zh) (tiánwèi)

• Crimean Tatar: tatlılıq
• Czech: sladkost f
• Danish: sødme c
• Dutch: zoetheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: dolĉeco
• Finnish: makeus (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: dóuçor
• Galician: dozura f
• Georgian: სიტკბო (siṭḳbo), სიტკბოება (siṭḳboeba)
• German: Süßigkeit (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: γλυκύτης f (glukútēs)

• Hebrew: מתיקות‎ f (metikút)
• Hungarian: édesség (hu)

• Icelandic: sætleik f
• Italian: dolcezza (it) f
• Japanese: 甘さ (あまさ, amasa)
• Latin: dulcēdō f, dulcitās f, dulcitūdō f, dulcor m, mellinia f, suāvitās f
• Latvian: saldums m
• Malay: manis (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sødme m, søthet m or f

  Nynorsk: søtleik m

• Occitan: doçor f
• Old English: swētnes f
• Polish: słodycz (pl) f
• Portuguese: doçura (pt) f
• Romanian: dulceață (ro)
• Russian: сла́дость (ru) f (sládostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: slatkòća (sh) f
• Spanish: dulzura (es) f, dulzor m, melosidad f, dulcedumbre f
• Swedish: sötma (sv) c
• Thai: ความหวาน (kwaam-wǎan)
• Turkish: tatlılık (tr)
• Ukrainian: соло́дкість f (solódkistʹ)
• Welsh: melyster m
• Yiddish: זיסקײַט‎ f (ziskayt)

pleasant disposition

• Afrikaans: soetheid
• Albanian: ëmbëlsi (sq) f
• Azerbaijani: şirinlik
• Bulgarian: ласкавост (bg) f (laskavost)
• Catalan: dolçor (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 甜美 (zh) (tiánměi)

• Danish: sødme c
• Dutch: zoetheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: amindeco
• Finnish: herttaisuus (fi)
• Galician: dozura f

• German: Süßigkeit (de) f
• Hungarian: kedvesség (hu)
• Icelandic: sætleik f
• Italian: dolcezza (it) f
• Latin: suavitudo f
• Latvian: saldums m
• Polish: słodycz (pl) f
• Portuguese: doçura (pt) f
• Romanian: dulceață (ro)
• Russian: доброду́шие (ru) n (dobrodúšije), доброта́ (ru) f (dobrotá)
• Serbo-Croatian: slatkost (sh) m
• Spanish: agradabilidad f
• Turkish: tatlılık (tr)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} Süße (de) f

• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} mìlseachd f

Anagrams

• wetnesses