Bitter

How to spell bitter

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bitter

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bitter mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a sharp, unpleasant taste, or marked by harshness, resentment, or painful intensity.
2. nounA traditional British beer brewed to be moderately hopped, giving it a sharp, dry flavour.

Bitter in a sentence

• adjective

  The medicine left a bitter taste on her tongue.

• noun

  He ordered a pint of bitter at the village pub.

• adjective

  A bitter wind cut across the empty car park.

• noun

  The brewery is known across the county for its cask bitter.

Where does bitter come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes straight from the Old English biter, meaning 'sharp' or 'cutting', and it was understood quite literally as 'biting': the taste that seems to nip the tongue. It belongs to the same family as the verb 'bite', both descending from a Germanic root bitan meaning 'to bite', so the spelling preserves a genuine connection to the idea of something sharp enough to wound. From the early sense of a harsh taste, English speakers stretched the word to describe harsh weather, harsh words, and harsh feelings, which is how we arrived at a 'bitter' wind and a 'bitter' rival. The doubled t reflects the short, stressed first vowel, a pattern English uses to keep the 'i' clipped rather than long. Because the word is so old and native, its meanings have grown by metaphor rather than by borrowing, fanning out from one vivid physical sensation.

How the word is built

• bitt- (from Old English bitan: to bite)
• -er (adjectival ending originally meaning 'biting, sharp')