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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

Xu, whose mother died when he was a year old, recalled in a speech how he ate only sweet potato and steamed bread in his school years.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

“Isabell was beautiful inside and out, sweet, funny, silly, smart, strong in her faith, and deeply loved by everyone fortunate enough to know her,” an online fundraising page for her family read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Many of Merck’s deals are at that sweet spot—after the data shows the drug works but still before a late-stage trial has confirmed it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Red and fallow deer eat grasses, leaves and shoots of trees, as well as acorns, sweet chestnuts and horse chestnuts.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

I lifted my chin and began a wedding song, the sweet sound of it filling my head.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Recent requests have included Mexican peso designs, medallions and a glittery wand for a Sweet 16 gift.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

She co-owns Sweet Emporium where she is busy serving customers sweets and ice creams in the hot weather.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

These days, the temperature inside the kitchen at Sweet Red Peach bakery is at least 93 degrees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East—which Accenture CEO Julie Sweet cited as one factor affecting results—“is putting further pressure on weak discretionary spend,” Thind wrote.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

Every once in a while a poem would appear from the Sweet Singer.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

She co-owns Sweet Emporium where she is busy serving customers sweets and ice creams in the hot weather.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

That was when the 30-year-old from Kettering adopted the mantra of "shy girls don't get sweets" and she ended up three shots behind.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Catherine, meanwhile, had run to seed and spent as much time as possible lying in bed eating sweets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

WSJ: How are consumers responding to new restrictions on what shoppers can buy with food stamps, including sweets in some states?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

There was a wall of blue glass jars, containing sweets from across the Archipelago.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Thinking of it that way makes life sweeter, too.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Victory was made even sweeter for scorer Ben Waine by the fact that he is a boyhood fan of Sunderland's big rivals Newcastle.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026

“They are in a much sweeter spot for a big tax refund season and a middle income and up geared stimulus. And they’ve got easy comparisons,” he said.

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

Tenney, who was sweet and funny on “The Closer,” and who we don’t see enough of these days, is sweeter and funnier here, and gets to sing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026

The sweeter the memory the more it hurt.

From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen

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

If he can carry it all the way to a seventh Premiership title it may be the sweetest victory of the lot.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

These days, Thompson’s music is among the sweetest.

From Salon ● May 15, 2026

“Six months ago I met the love of my life. The world’s most beautiful, sweetest person,” a choked-up Lægreid said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026

Janie had kept asking her to go, saying they could go in a group with friends or something, which was probably both the dumbest and sweetest thing she had ever said to Grace.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

Related Words

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