wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

1

: artemisia

especially : a European plant (Artemisia absinthium) that has silvery silky-haired leaves and drooping yellow flower heads and yields a bitter dark green oil used in absinthe

2

: something bitter or grievous : bitterness

Examples of wormwood in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At the core of it are herbs—grand wormwood, green anise, and fennel—that are infused and re-distilled and flavored usually with more herbs like angelica, star anise, licorice root, and others. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 10 Jan. 2026

Artemisinin's, as they're called, are based on extracts from the sweet wormwood plant. —NPR, 12 Nov. 2025

One of the most famous is wormwood (Artemisa absinthium), from which absinthe, the intoxicating drink purported to cure worms or stomach ailments, was made. —Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025

Michael asks, bitter as wormwood. —Roy Scranton august 20, Literary Hub, 20 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English wormwode, folk-etymological alteration of warmode, wermod, going back to Old English wermōd, going back to West Germanic *wermōda- (whence Old Saxon wermōda, Old High German wermuota), perhaps going back to a derivative of a base *wermo- "bitter," dissimilated from dialectal Indo-European *(s)u̯eru̯o- (whence Welsh chwerw "bitter," Old Irish serb)

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wormwood

• allgood
• basswood
• beechwood
• bellwood
• birchwood
• boxwood
• boyhood
• brushwood
• childhood
• cordwood
• dogwood
• driftwood

Kids Definition

wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

1

: a European plant that is related to the daisies and yields a bitter dark green oil

2

: something bitter or painful

it was wormwood for him to accept charity

Medical Definition

wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

: artemisia sense 2

especially : a European plant (Artemisia absinthium) yielding a bitter slightly aromatic dark green oil used in absinthe