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• sweet
  sweet

  adjective

  having the taste or flavor characteristic of sugar, honey, etc.
• Sweet
  Sweet

  noun

  Henry, 1845–1912, English philologist and linguist.

sweet

¹ American  

[sweet] / swit /

adjective

• sweeter,
  comparative
• sweetest
  superlative

1. having the taste or flavor characteristic of sugar, honey, etc.

   Synonyms:

   sugary

2. producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not bitter, sour, or salt.

3. not rancid or stale; fresh.

   This milk is still sweet.

4. not salt or salted.

   sweet butter.

5. pleasing to the ear; making a delicate, pleasant, or agreeable sound; musical.

   Synonyms:

   mellifluous, melodious

6. pleasing or fresh to the smell; fragrant; perfumed.

   Synonyms:

   aromatic, redolent

7. pleasing or agreeable; delightful.

8. amiable; kind or gracious, as a person, action, etc.

   Synonyms:

   charming, lovable, winning

9. dear; beloved; precious.

10. easily managed; done or effected without effort.

11. (of wine) not dry; containing unfermented, natural sugar.

12. (of a cocktail) made with a greater proportion of vermouth than usual.

13. sentimental, cloying, or unrealistic.

    a sweet painting of little kittens.

14. (of air) fresh; free from odor, staleness, excess humidity, noxious gases, etc.

15. free from acidity or sourness, as soil.

16. Chemistry.

    1. devoid of corrosive or acidic substances.

    2. (of fuel oil or gas) containing no sulfur compounds.

17. (of jazz or big band music) performed with a regular beat, moderate tempo, lack of improvisation, and an emphasis on warm tone and clearly outlined melody.

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adverb

1. in a sweet manner; sweetly.

interjection

1. Slang. (used to express approval, admiration, satisfaction, pleasure, etc..

   I hear she got a promotion. Sweet!

noun

• sweets
  plural

1. a sweet flavor, smell, or sound; sweetness.

2. something that is sweet or causes or gives a sweet flavor, smell, or sound.

3. sweets,

   1. candy, pie, cake, and other foods high in sugar content.

   2. Informal. sweet potatoes.

4. Chiefly British.

   1. a piece of candy; confection or bonbon.

   2. a sweet dish or dessert, as a pudding or tart.

5. something pleasant to the mind or feelings.

6. a beloved person.

7. Often sweets (in direct address) darling; sweetheart.

   Yes, my sweet.

idioms

1. sweet on, infatuated with; in love with.

   He's sweet on her.

2. short and sweet. see short and sweet.

Sweet ² American  

[sweet] / swit /

noun

1. Henry, 1845–1912, English philologist and linguist.

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sweet ¹ British  

/ swiːt /

adjective

1. having or denoting a pleasant taste like that of sugar

2. agreeable to the senses or the mind

   sweet music

3. having pleasant manners; gentle

   a sweet child

4. (of wine, etc) having a relatively high sugar content; not dry

5. (of foods) not decaying or rancid

   sweet milk

6. not salty

   sweet water

7. free from unpleasant odours

   sweet air

8. containing no corrosive substances

   sweet soil

9. (of petrol) containing no sulphur compounds

10. sentimental or unrealistic

11. individual; particular

    the electorate went its own sweet way

12. jazz performed with a regular beat, with the emphasis on clearly outlined melody and little improvisation

13. slang satisfactory or in order; all right

14. archaic respected; dear (used in polite forms of address)

    sweet sir

15. smooth and precise; perfectly executed

    a sweet shot

16. fond of or infatuated with

17. to ingratiate oneself in order to ensure cooperation

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adverb

1. informal in a sweet manner

noun

1. a sweet taste or smell; sweetness in general

2. (often plural) any of numerous kinds of confectionery consisting wholly or partly of sugar, esp of sugar boiled and crystallized ( boiled sweets )

3. a pudding, fruit, or any sweet dish served as a dessert

4. dear; sweetheart (used as a form of address)

5. anything that is sweet

6. (often plural) a pleasurable experience, state, etc

   the sweets of success

7. See sweet potato

Sweet ² British  

noun

1. Henry. 1845–1912, English philologist; a pioneer of modern phonetics. His books include A History of English Sounds (1874)

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sweet More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sweet

• short and sweet
• take the bitter with the sweet

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• oversweetness
  noun
• supersweetness
  noun
• sweetness
  noun
• nonsweet
  adjective
• oversweet
  adjective
• supersweet
  adjective
• sweetish
  adjective
• oversweetly
  adverb
• supersweetly
  adverb
• sweetly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sweets
  plural

Adjectives

• sweeter
  comparative
• sweetest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of sweet

First recorded before 900; (adjective and adverb) Middle English swet(e), Old English swēte (adjective); (noun) Middle English swet(e), derivative of the adjective; cognate with Old Saxon swōti, Old High German swuozi ( German süss ); akin to Dutch zoet, Old Norse sætr, Gothic suts, Sanskrit svādú-, Greek hēdýs, hādýs “sweet,” Latin suāvis “pleasant” and suādēre “to recommend”

Explanation

Food that’s sweet is full of sugar, bad for your teeth, but oh so tasty. People who are sweet are super nice, like that sweet lunch lady who gives you an extra cookie. Sweet can be an adjective or a noun. It can describe something pleasing to the senses, like a sweet song, or when you're playing basketball and get nothing but net. Sweet! As a noun, it's a confection, a little something for dessert. The poet Khalil Gibran said, “Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” Don’t opportunistically take your friends for granted, or you could become the target of some sweet revenge.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sweet Sweet sweets sweeter sweetest

Part of the hall’s commercial appeal is expected to be its size, in a sweet spot between the 2,265-seat Disney and the popular 415-seat Herbert Zipper Concert Hall already on the Colburn campus.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Beloved for its mildly sweet, nutty flavour and velvety texture, it later evolved into a party food, consumed as a jam or stewed with sticky rice balls in coconut milk.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Before the vinegar, it tasted good — but a little too sweet and a little too earthy.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

She said Anderson was able to "crank up" his "darker personality characteristics" to succeed in his environment, something that was in "the sweet spot that most people can't attain".

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

He looked so sweet and harmless that I forgot sense and stuck my finger out to him, as if he were a tame bird.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Sweet potatoes and carrots can take it, and the coconut milk mellows everything considerably.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

The stands were bathed in sunshine and fans looked like they were having the time of their life as they sang Sweet Caroline and Wonderwall in unison.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Restaurants in the island’s six towns, from the Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs to the Fish House in Edgartown, tweaked menus, recipes and how they cook.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

“Clients want clear value and they’re stuck,” said Accenture CEO Julie Sweet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

What I’ve always found ironic about Sweet 16 is that they don’t go above a size twelve.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

"Our study, which used more than 9,000 recorded meals, suggests that modifying diet during and after antibiotics, specifically by reducing sweets intake, could help with that."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

In contrast, higher consumption of sweets was associated with faster ventricular enlargement and greater hippocampal atrophy.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

It was his idea to revamp his diet, cutting all sweets, processed foods and seed oils.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

At the Mubarakiyah market, Iranian vendors hawk sweets, including delicacies infused with saffron and tahini-based treats, drawing a steady stream of customers.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

When everything was ready we stood by the door and people began to tumble in with wide smiles, wearing their best clothes, arms full of flowers and sweets, rose perfume floating in the air.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani

"I worked incredibly hard, showed a lot of grit and determination. I think these are a lot sweeter than the ones you win with ease."

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

The onion and fennel softened, browned and grew sweeter.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

"Conversely, the sweeter milk chocolate scent acts more like a hedonic reward cue, enhancing training volume by creating a highly pleasant sensory environment rather than by shifting basic metabolic hunger signals."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

“Game of Thrones” spinoff “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” doesn’t have the grandeur of its predecessor, but is just as brutal while also telling a smaller, sometimes even sweeter story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

But when they emerged into the sun, sweat on both their faces, the air was sweeter and softer than it had ever been.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

“Hayden Panettiere is the sweetest thing in the world,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

It might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted—and was the only drink I couldn’t finish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Despite Mary’s misfit qualities, she exhibits a kindness that even the sweetest of her sisters, Jane, lacks.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

It was hardly the sweetest strike, but nobody cared.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

Figure 2.9: Voices are as individual as faces; some altos will have a narrower or wider range, or the sweetest and most powerful part of their range in a different place than other altos.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Related Words

• appealing
• beautiful
• charming
• delightful
• engaging
• generous
• gentle
• lovable
• loving
• luscious
• mild
• mushy
• pleasant
• pleasing
• tender