What's the difference between bitter and bittersweet?

Bitter


Definition:

  • (n.) AA turn of the cable which is round the bitts.
  • (v. t.) Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine; bitter as aloes.
  • (v. t.) Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe; as, a bitter cold day.
  • (v. t.) Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind; calamitous; poignant.
  • (v. t.) Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.
  • (v. t.) Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
  • (n.) Any substance that is bitter. See Bitters.
  • (v. t.) To make bitter.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Since the election on 7 March there has been a bitter contest for power in Iraq led by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
  • (2) If bitter, pour it out and measure 1.4 litres of water.
  • (3) The dumplings could also be served pan-fried in browned butter and tossed with a bitter leaf salad and fresh sheep's cheese for a lighter, but equally delicious option.
  • (4) The first was a passive avoidance task in which the chicks were allowed to peck at a green training stimulus (a small light-emitting diode, LED) coated in the bitter liquid, methylanthranilate, giving rise to a strong disgust response and consequent avoidance of the green stimulus.
  • (5) In the QHCl-sucrose condition components separated by the tongue's midline and those spatially mixed produced equal amounts of bitterness suppression.
  • (6) At the interview those with conventional ileostomies expressed better preoperative comprehension of the procedure and more satisfaction about its life-saving nature; nevertheless, they experienced more negative emotional reactions, such as bitterness, after the operation.
  • (7) The higher analogues of the cycloalkane series containing alpha-aminocycloheptanecarboxylic acid methyl ester and alpha-aminocyclooctanecarboxylic acid methyl ester are bitter.
  • (8) It's almost starting to feel like we're back in the good old days of July 2005, when Paris lost out to London in the battle to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, a defeat immediately interpreted by France as a bitter blow to Gallic ideals of fair play and non-commercialism and yet another undeserved triumph for the underhand, free-market manoeuvrings of perfidious Albion.
  • (9) Hollande ended up defending until to the bitter end Jérôme Cahuzac , a finance minister responsible for fighting tax evasion who turned out to have used a secret Swiss bank account to avoid paying taxes in France.
  • (10) The sensitivity of the taste system to the various qualities was, in decreasing order, salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.
  • (11) Grace's ascent has also thrown a grenade into the bitter succession battle within Zanu-PF, which Mugabe has divided and ruled for decades.
  • (12) Denatonium, a very bitter substance, caused a rise in the intracellular calcium concentration due to release from internal stores in a small subpopulation of taste cells.
  • (13) I see myself in exactly the same situation as I saw myself yesterday, though obviously with the bitter disappointment of the failure of being knocked out.
  • (14) Stephen Joseph, its chief executive said: "This is bitter news for everyone who relies on the train to get to work, not least the large number of commuters in marginal constituencies who will be a key group at the next election."
  • (15) Lewis Wind Power, the joint venture company set up by Amec and British Energy, said it was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision.
  • (16) As night fell in Paris, despite the bitter cold, more than 5,000 people gathered under the imposing statue of Marianne, the symbol of the republic, to show their anger, grief and solidarity.
  • (17) The present alternative model of health care in China has evolved after prolonged and often bitter debate extending over twenty years.
  • (18) It is much less soluble and bitter and poses few stability problems when capsulated or tableted with aspirin.
  • (19) "They have given Mexicans the most bitter Christmas," Armando Martínez, the president of the College of Catholic Attorneys, told reporters.
  • (20) He says he is not bitter but his words are laced with hostility.

Bittersweet


Definition:

  • (a.) Sweet and then bitter or bitter and then sweet; esp. sweet with a bitter after taste; hence (Fig.), pleasant but painful.
  • (n.) Anything which is bittersweet.
  • (n.) A kind of apple so called.
  • (n.) A climbing shrub, with oval coral-red berries (Solanum dulcamara); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal dulcamara.
  • (n.) An American woody climber (Celastrus scandens), whose yellow capsules open late in autumn, and disclose the red aril which covers the seeds; -- also called Roxbury waxwork.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For the embattled people of Ali Akbar Dial, a collection of disappearing villages on the southern tip of the island in Bangladesh , the distant trees serve as a bittersweet reminder of what they have lost and a warning of what is come.
  • (2) The revolt represents a bittersweet victory for Tsipras, who now has to rely on “pro-European” opposition parties to push policies through parliament.
  • (3) The song is that musical embodiment of bittersweet chemical comedown when you still feel divine but your heart skips a beat and you don't always quite catch your breath."
  • (4) It’s been a bittersweet week for NHS providers – the hospital, mental health, ambulance and community NHS trusts and foundation trusts who treat a million patients every 36 hours and are the backbone of our national health service.
  • (5) Emma's work is also showcased in the shop until the end of May in Sad Stefano and Friends (pictured), an exhibition that promises to capture the bittersweet complexities and confusion of childhood.
  • (6) She said the prospect of stricter gun control laws was bittersweet.
  • (7) This time, they held out but there were some hairy moments after Wayne Rooney’s sending off and it was a bittersweet occasion for the man Louis van Gaal had entrusted to be his captain.
  • (8) Winter stem fluid from the bittersweet nightshade, Solanum dulcamara L., also showed the recrystallization inhibition activity characteristic of the animal thermal hysteresis proteins (THPs), suggesting a possible function for the THPs in this freeze tolerant species.
  • (9) "Unless we move to adopt a new economic model, the recovery will prove unsustainable and bittersweet for those who do not benefit from it before it is extinguished."
  • (10) After Liverpool announced the previous day that their captain would be leaving for MLS , Rodgers’ feelings about the source of the rescue act must have been bittersweet: could it not have been someone, anyone, else?
  • (11) And that could be crucial.” It seems that the particular bittersweet combination of nostalgic memory is vital to such effects.
  • (12) He drinks and dances and talks his way through a couple of days in the city, arriving at a moment of bittersweet joy as he watches his younger sister ride the carousel in Central Park.
  • (13) In a bittersweet farewell, Gabrielle Giffords , the US congresswoman recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, accepted chocolates and a big presidential hug as she claimed her seat one last time in the House of Representatives during Barack Obama's state of the union address.
  • (14) There is another a bittersweet angle to the story: the relationship between Ramphele and the DA's current leader, Helen Zille, who is giving up the presidential candidacy, dates back to the death of Ramphele's former partner, the Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko.
  • (15) These memories are associated with a characteristic affective coloration described as "bittersweet".
  • (16) Two months later, many of the students who pushed for the change say the decision is bittersweet.
  • (17) It's pretty much perfect: the story of a love that can never happen, between a failing Dublin songwriter and a Czech immigrant, it has that Brief Encounter bittersweet ache to it.
  • (18) Everyone else has written about her, so it’s a chance to give her version.” Obama’s favourite word in recent months has been “bittersweet” as she cycles through the calendar of events for the last time.
  • (19) She added: "I can only imagine how bittersweet her freedom must be for her, leaving Shane and Josh behind."
  • (20) And in a bittersweet twist of political fate this quiet revolt by the people of the East End may yet lock Ed Miliband out of 10 Downing Street.