embitter

[ em-bit-er ]

See synonyms for: embitter embittered embitterment on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to make bitter; cause to feel bitterness: Failure has embittered him.
to make bitter or more bitter in taste.

Origin of embitter

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

Also imbitter.

Other words for embitter

1	sour, rankle, envenom

See synonyms for embitter on Thesaurus.com

Other words from embitter

em·bit·ter·er, noun
em·bit·ter·ment, noun
un·em·bit·tered, adjective

Words Nearby embitter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use embitter in a sentence

“His experiences of discrimination in the Navy and in the housing market permanently embittered him,” Rothstein writes.
Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why | Sujata Gupta | February 8, 2022 | Science News
That funding program embittered Workhorse leadership, said the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because both the Postal Service and its vendors are bound by nondisclosure agreements.
Electric automaker Workhorse sues Postal Service to halt truck contract | Jacob Bogage | June 16, 2021 | Washington Post
Fortunately he did not live long enough after his brother hopelessly to embitter his daughter's youth.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
If he did not at once forget the woman, the memory of his existence of luxury never returned to embitter him.
The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson
And I will embitter thy life, and poison it, first: and then I will take it away.
The Substance of a Dream | F. W. Bain

The final draft that would embitter his years was added the sixth night after the accident—the night that Henry died.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow Paine
I would not, for the sake of my party and beliefs, embitter what remains of my old friend's life.
Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for embitter

embitter

/ (ɪmˈbɪtə) /

verb(tr)

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

Derived forms of embitter

embittered, adjective
embitterer, noun
embitterment, noun

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

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