bitter

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪtə(ɹ)/, [ˈbɪtʰə], (colloquially also) [ˈbɪʔə]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪtɚ/, [ˈbɪɾɚ]
• Hyphenation: bit‧ter

• Audio (US)

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

From Middle English bitter, bittre, from Old English bitter, biter (“bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *bit(t)r, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz (“bitter”), equivalent to bite +‎ -er (agent noun suffix) used attributively. Compare Saterland Frisian bitter (“bitter”), West Frisian bitter (“bitter”), Dutch bitter (“bitter”), Low German bitter (“bitter”), German bitter (“bitter”), Swedish bitter (“bitter”), Icelandic bitur (“bitter”).

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

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

   The coffee tasted bitter.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth […].

   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel":

     A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

2. Harsh, piercing or stinging.
   • 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, p.31 (Perennial paperback edition)

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

3. Hateful or hostile.

   They're bitter enemies.

   • 2022 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Gunners show identity & direction in outstanding derby win”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Tottenham have not won in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium for 12 years, with Arsenal losing just one of their last 29 home league games against their bitter rivals.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292:

     He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Colossians 3:19:

     Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

4. Cynical and resentful.

   I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

• 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.

• (cynical and resentful): jaded

• (cynical and resentful): optimistic

• Sranan Tongo: bita

• bitter end

bitter (countable and uncountable, plural bitters)

1. (usually in the plural bitters) A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.
   • 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer

     Thus I begin: "All is not gold that glitters,

     "Pleasure seems sweet, but proves a glass of bitters.

2. A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.
3. (nautical) A turn of a cable about the bitts.

• (beer): English pale ale, EPA

bitter (third-person singular simple present bitters, present participle bittering, simple past and past participle bittered)

1. To make bitter.
   • 1766, John Wilkinson, Tutamen Nauticum:

     bittered with the hop

bit +‎ -er

bitter (plural bitters)

1. (computing, informal, in combination) A hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).
   • 1983, Computerworld (volume 17, number 49, page 21)

     However, 16-bitters are far more expensive than the 8-bit variety. And, unfortunately, have only a handful of business applications software packages that really take advantage of them.

   • 1984, Electronic Business (volume 10, page 154)

     The company believes that the 32-bit market will almost equal that of 16-bitters by the end of the decade. Chip maker Zilog Inc., not a major player in the 16-bit arena, is even more bullish about 32-bitters as it readies its own version for market.

Borrowed from Middle Low German bitter.

bitter

1. bitter (all meanings)

• bitterhed
• forbitret

bitter c (singular definite bitteren, plural indefinite bittere)

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

Borrowed from English bitter.

bitter c

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

From Middle Dutch bitter, from Old Dutch bitter, from Proto-West Germanic *bit(t)r, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪtər/

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• Hyphenation: bit‧ter
• Rhymes: -ɪtər

bitter (comparative bitterder, superlative bitterst)

1. bitter (having an acrid taste)
2. bitter, embittered

• verbitteren

• verbitterd

• Afrikaans: bitter
• Negerhollands: bitter, better, bitu
• → Caribbean Hindustani: bitá
• → Saramaccan: bíta
• → Sranan Tongo: bita

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

bitter m or n (plural bitters, diminutive bittertje n)

1. A type of strong spirits made by steeping (often bitter) herbs in brandy or jenever, traditionally considered a digestive drink.

   Zonder zijn gebruikelijke bittertje om vier uur voelde Opa zich niet lekker. ― Without his regular shot of bitter at four o'clock, Grandpa wouldn't feel well.

When used in a countable sense (a serving of bitter), the diminutive is the usual form.

• kruidenbitter

• bitterbal
• oranjebitter
• kruidenbitter

• Afrikaans: bitter
• → Caribbean Hindustani: bitá
• → Catalan: bíter
• → Papiamentu: beter, bitter
• → Saramaccan: bíta
• → Sranan Tongo: bita

• The article Bitters on Wikipedia

From English bitter.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiter/, [ˈbit̪e̞r]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbitːer/, [ˈbit̪ːe̞r]
• Rhymes: -itːer
• Syllabification^(key): bit‧ter

bitter

1. bitter (type of beer)

• IPA^(key): /bi.te/

• Audio (Paris)

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bitter

1. (transitive, slang) to understand, usually used in negative form and especially with rien

   Synonym: comprendre

   J’ai rien bitté au cours.

   I got nothing of the class

• “bitter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Middle High German bitter, pitter, from Old High German bittar, from Proto-West Germanic *bit(t)r, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz. Compare Low German bitter, Dutch bitter, English bitter, Swedish bitter, Icelandic bitur.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪ.tɐ/

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bitter (strong nominative masculine singular bitterer, comparative bitterer, superlative am bittersten)

1. bitter

• (tastes) Geschmack; bitter, salzig, sauer, süß ^{(Category: de:Taste)}

• bitterkalt
• bittersüß
• Bitterkeit
• verbittern

bitter

1. bitterly

   Synonym: verbittert

• “bitter” in Duden online
• “bitter” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “bitter” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

Pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of English bitters.

bitter m (invariable)

1. bitters

From Old Dutch bitter, from Proto-West Germanic *bit(t)r, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪtːər/

bitter

1. bitter (taste)
2. sad, painful

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

• Dutch: bitter
• Limburgish: bitter

• “bitter”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “bitter”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

From Middle Low German bitter and Old Norse bitr.

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

1. bitter

• bitterhet

• “bitter” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Middle Low German bitter and Old Norse bitr.

bitter (neuter singular bittert, definite singular and plural bitre, comparative bitrare, indefinite superlative bitrast, definite superlative bitraste)

1. bitter

• “bitter” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit.ter/

bitter

1. Alternative form of biter

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit.ter/

bitter

1. Alternative form of bittar

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

From Old Norse bitr (partly through the influence of Middle Low German bitter), from Proto-Germanic *bitraz.

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bitter (comparative bittrare, superlative bittrast)

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

• bitter in Svensk ordbok.

• bittre