Definition of "bitter" in English

adjective

1. Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).

   • The coffee tasted bitter.

2. Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.

   • It was at the end of February, […] when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors […].

3. Hateful or hostile.

   • They're bitter enemies.

4. Cynical and resentful.

   • I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

adverb

1. To an intense or severe degree; bitterly.

noun

1. (usually in the plural bitters) A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.

2. A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.

3. (nautical) A turn of a cable about the bitts.

verb

1. (archaic) To make bitter.

noun

1. (computing, informal, in combination) A hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).