bittersweet

Meanings

Adjective

• Both bitter and sweet.
• Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.
• Of bittersweet color.

Noun

• Solanum dulcamara.
• Bittersweetness.
• A vine, of the genus Celastrus, having small orange fruit that open to reveal red seeds.
• A variety of apple with a bittersweet taste.
• Any variety of clam in the family Glycymerididae
• A pinkish-orange color. Any color in between scarlet and orange.

Origin

• From Middle English bitterswete, biterswete, equivalent to . Cognate with Saterland Frisian bitterswäit, West Frisian bittersoet, Dutch bitterzoet, German bittersüß, Danish bittersød, Swedish bittersöt.