bitter pill
Americannoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Losing Stewart for longer than that would be a bitter pill for USC to swallow at the start of a highly anticipated season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Paramount would have a bitter pill to swallow if regulators actually blocked the transaction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
The sale was a bit of a bitter pill for Simmons to swallow, leaving him with just $200,000 in profit after he paid $10.8 million for the combined properties.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
Liam Rosenior said Chelsea's failure to stay calm under pressure was a "bitter pill" as they blew a two-goal advantage in their 2-2 draw with Leeds on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
Given that Russia was at this point at the very vanguard of modernism it was a bitter pill to swallow, and understandably so.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
