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# bitter

«bitter» in Mova's school dictionary: **Bitter describes a strong, sharp, unpleasant taste, like…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (bitter, more bitter / bitterer, most bitter / bitterest)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Bitter describes a strong, sharp, unpleasant taste, like black coffee, dark chocolate or the peel of a lemon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#m1)

2) Bitter weather or wind is extremely cold. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#m2)

3) Bitter feelings are angry, hurt and resentful because something unfair happened. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#m3)

4) A bitter fight or argument is very angry and hard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#m4)

5) In the UK, bitter is also a kind of beer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, bitter is one of the main tastes the tongue can sense: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Many poisons and unsafe plants taste bitter, so a bitter taste can be a warning, and some cleaning products are made bitter on purpose so children spit them out. In stories bitter feelings show a character who feels wronged. Phrases: «a bitter taste», «bitter cold», «a bitter wind», «to the bitter end» (until the very end, even if it is hard), «bittersweet».

### examples

- This coffee is too bitter for me. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x1)
- Dark chocolate tastes a bit bitter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x2)
- A bitter wind blew across the playground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x3)
- He felt bitter about losing the race unfairly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x4)
- The two teams were bitter rivals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x5)
- Some medicine tastes bitter, so mix it with juice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x6)
- Never taste berries you find; some are bitter and poisonous. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x7)
- They kept fighting to the bitter end. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/#x8)

### note

Do not confuse bitter with sour: sour is the sharp taste of lemons and vinegar (acid); bitter is the taste of coffee and tonic water. Myth: the tongue does not have separate «zones» for each taste; all parts can taste them all. Noun: «bitterness».

### In the corpora

- [Plants make bitter or poisonous chemicals after being attacked; a chewed tomato plant makes its leaves harder to digest.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/252-plants-deeper-do-trees-talk-fungi-warning-smells-and-giant-clones/15/)
- [Chocolate starts as a bitter bean.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/347-sugar-chocolate-tea-and-coffee-the-plants-behind-treats/3/)
- [Fresh cocoa beans taste bitter and smell of chocolate only after fermenting, drying and roasting.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/347-sugar-chocolate-tea-and-coffee-the-plants-behind-treats/14/)
- [A ladybird's red and black are a warning: it tastes bitter and oozes yellow liquid from its knees when grabbed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/367-animal-colours-pink-flamingos-rare-blue-animals-white-albinos-and-black-panthers/18/)
- [Lick a lemon and it is sour; taste a tiny pinch of baking soda and it is bitter and soapy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/16-alkalis-and-soda/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bitter» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bitter/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.