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sweetener

[sweet-n-er]
See more synonyms for sweetener on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. something that sweetens, as sugar or a low-calorie synthetic product used instead of sugar.
  2. an added inducement: such sweeteners as tax breaks and low-cost loans.
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Origin of sweetener

First recorded in 1640–50; sweeten + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sweetener

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Grace is a sweetener and embellisher of life, and as such is worthy of cultivation.

    Character

    Samuel Smiles

  • Sweetener, a person who runs up the prices of articles at an auction.

    The Slang Dictionary

    John Camden Hotten

  • Be the sweetener of tart speeches; be the sunshine that drives away the clouds.

    The Four Corners

    Amy Ella Blanchard

  • We learned from you that it was the sweetener of every thought and every act of the day.

    Father Brighthopes

    John Townsend Trowbridge

  • And he put the Sweetener to his lips and whistled the Plough up to him.

    The Field of Clover

    Laurence Housman

British Dictionary definitions for sweetener

sweetener

noun
  1. a sweetening agent, esp one that does not contain sugar
  2. informal a bribe
  3. informal a financial inducement
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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