Bitterness

//ˈbɪtənəs// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The quality of having a bitter taste. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a rough and bitter manner wordnet
  3. 3
    The quality of feeling bitter; acrimony, resentment; the quality of exhibiting such feelings. countable, uncountable

    "the bitterness of his words"

  4. 4
    the property of having a harsh unpleasant taste wordnet
  5. 5
    The quality of eliciting a bitter, humiliating or harsh feeling. countable, uncountable

    "Nothing could assuage the bitterness of their defeat."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    the taste experience when quinine or coffee is taken into the mouth wordnet
  2. 7
    Harsh cold. countable, uncountable

    "The bitterness of the winter caught us all by surprise."

  3. 8
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acerbityacrimonyacrimonygallrancorresentment

Example

More examples

"Today young people find themselves, through no fault of their own, living in a world torn by international bitterness and the threat of nuclear destruction."

Etymology

From Middle English bitternesse, biternesse, from Old English biternes (“bitterness; grief”), equivalent to bitter + -ness.

Related phrases

angry emotion

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.