bitterness
noun (bitterness, uncountable)
Everyday
- A sharp, unpleasant taste, like strong coffee or dark chocolate. tree →
- Angry, hurt feelings because you think you were treated unfairly. tree →
- (of weather) Very sharp coldness. tree →
In the lessons
In science lessons on taste: the tongue senses sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and umami. In stories: a character feels bitterness after losing or being let down. Phrases: without bitterness, a feeling of bitterness, the bitterness of the wind.
Examples
- The bitterness of the medicine made him pull a face. tree →
- Dark chocolate has a little bitterness. tree →
- She spoke about the lost match without bitterness. tree →
- There was bitterness between the two brothers. tree →
- The bitterness of the winter wind stung our faces. tree →
- Lemons are sour; coffee has bitterness. tree →
- Inge heard all this, and her heart became hardened and full of bitterness. tree →
Note
Uncountable. Adjective: bitter. Bitter (taste of coffee) is not the same as sour (taste of lemons) — a common confusion.
In Jewish tradition
In the "water of bitterness," a drink given to a wife suspected of unfaithfulness, with God's name written and washed into it. Elsewhere it means deep sorrow or pain of the soul, as in the bitterness of death, or of grief in Lamentations and Job.
Interpretation. The rabbis call this ordeal the sotah rite, and say the water proved guilt or innocence. The tradition reads the bitterness in Lamentations as the grief of Israel over the ruined Jerusalem.
Examples
- And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah. (Torah GEN.26.35, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness. (Torah NUM.5.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse; and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. (Torah NUM.5.24, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Agag said: 'Surely the bitterness of death is at hand.' (Prophets 1SA.15.32, JPS 1917) tree →
- He hath filled me with bitterness, He hath sated me with wormwood. (Writings LAM.3.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted of good. (Writings JOB.21.25, JPS 1917) tree →
Note
Uncountable. Adjective: bitter. Bitter (taste of coffee) is not the same as sour (taste of lemons) — a common confusion.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «bitterness» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «bitterness» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «bitterness» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «bitterness» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/bitterness/