What does "sweetener" mean?

Something added to food to sweeten its taste, especially an artificial substitute for sugar.

What is a synonym for "sweetener"?

Common synonyms include: bait, sweetening, ambrosia, artificial sweetener, bait, blackstrap.

noun, slang

noun, slang ·3 syllables ·Common ·High school level

Noun

1
Something added to food to sweeten its taste, especially an artificial substitute for sugar.
"Some examples of the sweeteners include aspartame, saccharin, sucralose and stevia. The W.H.O.’s announcement contradicts previous studies that have said these sweeteners don’t offer any health benefits but also do not cause harm."
2
anything that serves as an enticement wordnet
3
Something given or added to added to a deal to sweeten another's attitude, especially a bribe or kickback. informal
4
something added to foods to make them taste sweeter wordnet
5
A shill bidder at an auction. slang

"Sugar replaced honey as a sweetener."

From sweeten + -er (“agent suffix”).

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