Entry Word: bitter

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 having or showing deep-seated resentment <a bitter attitude about always having to work on Saturday> <she's still bitter about the way her boyfriend broke up with her>

Synonyms acrid, acrimonious, embittered, hard, rancorous, resentful, sore

Related Words disaffected, discontented, disgruntled, malcontent; contemptuous, cynical, disdainful, scornful; angry, cruel, harsh, irritated, mad, rough, savage, vicious; acid, caustic, cutting, mordant, sarcastic, trenchant

Near Antonyms caring, forgiving, gentle, kind, loving, sweet, sympathetic, tender, warm, warmhearted

2 hard to accept or bear especially emotionally <discovering that he had been cut from the team was a bitter disappointment>

Synonyms afflicting, agonizing, cruel, excruciating, galling, grievous, harrowing, harsh, heartrending, hurtful, painful, tormenting, tortuous

Related Words insufferable, insupportable, intolerable, unacceptable, unbearable, unendurable, unsupportable; appalling, awful, bad, dire, dreadful, ghastly, horrible, miserable, nasty, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched; acute, extreme, intense, piercing

Near Antonyms bearable, endurable, supportable, sustainable, tolerable; livable (also liveable), sufferable, survivable; acceptable, allowable, reasonable

Antonyms gratifying, pleasing, sweet

3 causing intense discomfort to oneʼs skin <a bitter wind was stinging the faces of the skiers> — see cutting 1
4 difficult to endure <a bitter lesson about money and friendship> — see harsh 1
5 having a low or subnormal temperature <a bitter February day for this part of the country> — see cold 1
6 uncomfortably cool <a bitter, rainy day> — see chilly 1