Bitter \Bit"ter\, a. [AS. biter; akin to Goth. baitrs, Icel.
bitr, Dan., Sw., D., & G. bitter, OS. bittar, fr. root of E.
bite. See Bite, v. t.]
1. Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of
wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine;
bitter as aloes.
[1913 Webster]
2. Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe;
as, a bitter cold day.
[1913 Webster]
3. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind;
calamitous; poignant.
[1913 Webster]
It is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast
forsaken the Lord thy God. --Jer. ii. 19.
[1913 Webster]
4. Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh;
stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.
[1913 Webster]
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against
them. --Col. iii.
19.
[1913 Webster]
5. Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
[1913 Webster]
The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with
hard bondage. --Ex. i. 14.
[1913 Webster]
Bitter apple, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd. (Bot.) See
Colocynth.
Bitter cress (Bot.), a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp.
Cardamine amara.
Bitter earth (Min.), tale earth; calcined magnesia.
Bitter principles (Chem.), a class of substances, extracted
from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but
with no sharply defined chemical characteristics.
Bitter salt, Epsom salts; magnesium sulphate.
Bitter vetch (Bot.), a name given to two European
leguminous herbs, Vicia Orobus and Ervum Ervilia.
To the bitter end, to the last extremity, however
calamitous.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Acrid; sharp; harsh; pungent; stinging; cutting; severe;
acrimonious.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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229 Moby Thesaurus words for "bitter":
Siberian, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent,
acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, affecting, afflictive, aftertaste,
algid, alienated, amaroidal, annoying, antagonistic, antipathetic,
arctic, asperous, astringent, austere, bad, belligerent,
below zero, bilious, biting, bitter as gall, bitterly cold, bleak,
boreal, brisk, brumal, brutal, burning, caustic, cheerless,
choleric, clashing, coarse, cold, cold as charity, cold as death,
cold as ice, cold as marble, colliding, comfortless, conflicting,
corroding, corrosive, crisp, cruel, cutting, deplorable,
depressing, depressive, despiteful, disagreeable, discomforting,
dislikable, dismal, dismaying, dispiriting, displeasing,
distasteful, distressful, distressing, disturbing, divided,
dolorific, dolorogenic, dolorous, double-edged, dreary, dyspeptic,
edged, embittered, escharotic, estranged, fierce, flavor, freezing,
freezing cold, frigid, full of hate, galling, gelid, glacial,
grievous, gust, hard, harsh, hateful, hibernal, hiemal, hostile,
hyperborean, ice-cold, ice-encrusted, icelike, icy, incisive,
inclement, intemperate, irreconcilable, irritating, jaundiced,
joyless, keen, lamentable, malevolent, malicious, malignant,
miserable, mordacious, mordant, mournful, moving, nasty, nipping,
nippy, nose-tickling, numbing, obnoxious, offensive, painful,
palate, pathetic, penetrating, piercing, pinching, piquant,
piteous, pitiable, poignant, provoking, pungent, quarrelsome,
rancorous, rankled, raw, regrettable, relish, reproachful,
repugnant, resentful, resenting, rigorous, rough, rueful, rugged,
sad, saddening, salt, sapidity, sapor, savor, savoriness, scathing,
scorching, set against, severe, sharp, sleety, slushy, smack,
snappy, sore, sorrowful, sour, sour-tempered, soured, spiteful,
splenetic, stabbing, stewing, stinging, stomach, stone-cold,
strident, stringent, subzero, supercooled, sweet, tang, tart,
taste, thankless, tongue, tooth, touching, trenchant, ugly,
unalluring, unappealing, unappetizing, unattractive, uncomfortable,
undelectable, undelicious, undesirable, unengaging, unenjoyable,
uninviting, unkind, unlikable, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpleasing,
unsavory, untasteful, unwelcome, vehement, venomous, vexatious,
vicious, vinegarish, violent, virulent, vitriolic, winterbound,
winterlike, wintery, wintry, withering, woebegone, woeful,
wretched
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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Bitter \Bit"ter\, a. [AS. biter; akin to Goth. baitrs, Icel.
bitr, Dan., Sw., D., & G. bitter, OS. bittar, fr. root of E.
bite. See Bite, v. t.]
1. Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of
wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine;
bitter as aloes.
2. Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe;
as, a bitter cold day.
3. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind;
calamitous; poignant.
It is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast
forsaken the Lord thy God. --Jer. ii. 19.
4. Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh;
stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against
them. --Col. iii.
19.
5. Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with
hard bondage. --Ex. i. 14.
Bitter apple, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd. (Bot.) See
Colocynth.
Bitter cress (Bot.), a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp.
C. amara.
Bitter earth (Min.), tale earth; calcined magnesia.
Bitter principles (Chem.), a class of substances, extracted
from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but
with no sharply defined chemical characteristics.
Bitter salt, Epsom salts; magnesium sulphate.
Bitter vetch (Bot.), a name given to two European
leguminous herbs, Vicia Orobus and Ervum Ervilia.
To the bitter end, to the last extremity, however
calamitous.
Syn: Acrid; sharp; harsh; pungent; stinging; cutting; severe;
acrimonious.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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