bittersweet

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Both bitter and sweet.

   • bittersweet chocolate
   • The dark green mooncake is loaded with matcha-infused salted egg yolk custard, which gives a bittersweet taste.
2. 2

   Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.

   • The break-up was very bittersweet; they both hurt to end it, but were glad it was over.
   • Her eyes still shone upon the ground, and still she prolonged the bittersweet delight at seeing this humiliation of both soul and body by asking the one question whose reply would complete her sad success.
3. 3

   Of bittersweet color (see the noun section, below).

4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).

   2. 5

      Bittersweetness.

      • I had once before visited these three villages, Skedans, Tanoo and Cumshewa. The bitter-sweet of their overwhelming loneliness created a longing to return to them.
   3. 6

      A vine, of the genus Celastrus, having small orange fruit that open to reveal red seeds.

      • Over by the creek-bed scarlet-flamed sumac shouldered the silver-green of the willows, and orange-colored bittersweet crept through the tangle of wild plums.
   4. 7

      A variety of apple with a bittersweet taste.

      • "They had a good crop of bitter-sweets, they couldn’t grind them all"—nodding towards an orchard where some heaps of apples had been left lying ever since the ingathering.
   5. 8

      Any variety of clam in the family Glycymerididae

   6. 9

      A pinkish-orange color. Any color in between scarlet and orange.

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