Synonyms

embitter

American

[em-bit-er] / ɛmˈbɪt ər /

verb (used with object)

to make bitter; cause to feel bitterness.

Failure has embittered him.

Synonyms:

envenom, rankle, sour
to make bitter or more bitter in taste.

embitter British

/ ɪmˈbɪtə /

verb

to make (a person) resentful or bitter
to aggravate (an already hostile feeling, difficult situation, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

embittered adjective
embitterer noun
embitterment noun
unembittered adjective

Etymology

Origin of embitter

First recorded in 1595–1605; em- ¹ + bitter

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.

AP: What struck me most watching the film is that despite going through what would defeat or embitter most, you seem to have emerged with such joy and appreciation for life.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 15, 2021

Hardship did not embitter Lucy Larcom, and she never lost her love of books and gift for poetry.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

Or will the attack embitter powerful factions in the government and alienate them further from the notion of an alliance with the United States?

From Slate • May 2, 2011

“I just never happened to get caught in a serious situation that would embitter me to the point where I would continue in that pattern.”

From New York Times • Aug. 21, 2010

The rancorous spirit in which many of his articles were written did much to embitter party feeling.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023