bitter

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   extremely and sharply

   it was bitterly cold

2. 2
   adj

   proceeding from or exhibiting great hostility or animosity

   a bitter struggle

3. 3
   adj

   expressive of severe grief or regret

   shed bitter tears

4. 4
   adj

   causing a sharp and acrid taste experience

   quinine is bitter

5. 5
   adj

   very difficult to accept or bear

   the bitter truth

6. 6
   verb

   to make bitter

   The burnt grounds bittered the coffee.

7. 7
   adj

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

   The coffee tasted bitter.

8. 8
   adj

   Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.

   It was at the end of February, […] when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors […].

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰidrós Proto-Germanic *bitraz Proto-West Germanic *bitr Old English biter Middle English bittre English bitter 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 bitter, West Frisian bitter, Low German bitter, Dutch bitter, German bitter, Swedish bitter, Icelandic bitur (all meaning “bitter”).