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View synonyms for bittersweet

bittersweet

[ adjective bit-er-sweet, bit-er-sweet; noun bit-er-sweet ]

adjective

  1. both bitter and sweet to the taste:

    bittersweet chocolate.

  2. both pleasant and painful or regretful:

    a bittersweet memory.



noun

  1. Also called woody nightshade. a climbing or trailing plant, Solanum dulcamara, of the nightshade family, having small, violet, star-shaped flowers with a protruding yellow center and scarlet berries.
  2. Also called climbing bittersweet. any climbing plant of the genus Celastrus, bearing orange capsules opening to expose red-coated seeds, especially C. scandens.
  3. pleasure mingled with pain or regret:

    the bittersweet of parting.

bittersweet

/ ˈbɪtəˌswiːt /

noun

  1. any of several North American woody climbing plants of the genus Celastrus , esp C. scandens , having orange capsules that open to expose scarlet-coated seeds: family Celastraceae
  2. another name for woody nightshade


adjective

  1. tasting of or being a mixture of bitterness and sweetness
  2. pleasant but tinged with sadness

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Other Words From

  • bit·ter·sweet·ly adverb
  • bit·ter·sweet·ness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of bittersweet1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; bitter + sweet

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Example Sentences

Last week I turned 40, a bittersweet occasion because I crossed the line to living longer without my mother than with her.

This final episode of Extras is the perfect Christmastime escape for those who prefer the bittersweet to the saccharine.

Other countries understand the bittersweet better than we do.

And the Marc show where the only song was Bittersweet Symphony.

On July 9, South Sudan will mark three years since independence, but any celebration will be bittersweet.

Around the case he planted wild clematis, bittersweet, and wild-grapevines, and trained them over it until it was almost covered.

The flowers are gone, but they were not brighter than the winter berries and bittersweet that glow around one.

It was the Club that decorated the house with brown sedges and stalks of upstanding tawny corn and vines of bittersweet.

Celastrus scandens, more commonly known as bittersweet, is a native vine that can easily be domesticated.

This tiny beak we can readily distinguish bent beneath the body of our bittersweet hopper.

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