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Contents
sweet definition
Overview
This page has 27 definitions of sweet in English, Afrikaans, and Middle Dutch. Sweet is an adjective, interjection, an adverb, noun and verb. Examples of how to use sweet in a sentence are shown. Also define these 43 related words and terms: pleasant, sugar, acid, sour, bitter, salty, proteinaceous, umami, wine, decay, ferment, rancid, spoiled, stale, pleasing, helpful, mineralogy, excessive, unwanted, substance, agreeable, joey, on, romantic, fixate, enamor, fond, fresh, salt, brackish, taste, confection, candy, dessert, sweetheart, darling, perfume, sweetness, delight, poetic, sweeten, sweat, and perspiration.
English sweet definition
Etymology
From Middle English sweete, swete, from Old English swēte (“sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).
Cognate and synonymous with Scots sweit, North Frisian sweete, West Frisian swiet, Low German sööt, Dutch zoet, German süß, Danish sød, Swedish söt, Norwegian søt, Latin suāvis, Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús). Doublet of suave.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /swiːt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /swit/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /swiːt/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -iːt
- Homophone: suite
Adjective
sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)
- Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
- a sweet apple
Sugar definition
Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink. (1 of 13 sugar definitions)
- Having a taste of sugar.
- 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel":
Bitter definition
Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance). (1 of 4 bitter definitions)
Proteinaceous definition
Of, pertaining to, or consisting of protein
- (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.
- Sweet wines are better dessert wines.
Wine definition
An alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the juice of grapes. (1 of 4 wine definitions)
- Not having a salty taste.
- sweet butter
- Having a pleasant smell.
- a sweet scent
- 1838, Longfellow, "Voices of the Night: The Reaper and the Flowers":
- The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
- Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.
- sweet milk
Ferment definition
To react, using fermentation; especially to produce alcohol by aging or by allowing yeast to act on sugars; to brew. (1 of 2 ferment definitions)
Spoiled definition
simple past tense and past participle of spoil
- Having a pleasant sound.
- a sweet tune
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Scarlet Letter, Ticknor and Fields, page 135:
- a voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful
- Having a pleasing disposition.
- a sweet child
- Having a helpful disposition.
- It was sweet of him to help out.
Helpful definition
Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
- (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.
- sweet gas
- sweet soil
- sweet crude oil
Mineralogy definition
The branch of petrology that studies minerals. (1 of 3 mineralogy definitions)
- (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
- The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:
- Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.
- 14 November 2014, Steven Haliday, Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero
- GORDON Strachan enjoyed the sweetest of his 16 matches in charge of Scotland so far as his team enhanced their prospects of Euro 2016 qualification with a crucial and deserved victory over Republic of Ireland.
Agreeable definition
Pleasing, either to the mind or senses; pleasant; grateful. (1 of 4 agreeable definitions)
- (slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.
- 2012, John Hoskison, Inside: One Man's Experience of Prison:
- "Visit in two days though," said Tommo. "Hang in there mate, got a joey coming, we'll be sweet then."
Joey definition
The immature young of a marsupial, notably a junior kangaroo, but also a young wallaby, koala, etc. (1 of 3 joey definitions)
- (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamoured with, fond of
- The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.
Romantic definition
Of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic. (1 of 6 romantic definitions)
- (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.
- sweet water
- 1627, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Natural History, in The Works of Francis Bacon (1826), page 66
- The white of an egg, or blood mingled with salt water, doth gather the saltness and maketh the water sweeter; this may be by adhesion.
- 1821, Robert Thomas, The modern practice of physic, page 713:
- Nothing has been found so effectual for preserving water sweet at sea, during long voyages, as charring the insides of the casks well before they are filled.
Salt definition
A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative. (1 of 11 salt definitions)
- Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
- a sweet face
- a sweet colour or complexion
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise lost (source), Samuel Simmons, page 278:
- Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.
Synonyms
- (having a taste of sugar): saccharine, sugary
- (containing a sweetening ingredient): sugared, sweetened
- (not having a salty taste): fresh, unsalty
- (having a pleasant smell): fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling
- (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale): fresh, unfermented, wholesome
- (having a pleasant sound): dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant
- (having a pleasing disposition): cute, lovable, pleasant
- (having a helpful disposition): kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful
- ((informal) very pleasing): rad, awesome, wicked
Antonyms
- (having a pleasant taste): bitter, sour, salty
- (containing a sweetening ingredient): nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet
- (of wines: retaining a portion of natural sugar): dry
- (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale): decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale
- (not having a salty taste): salty, savoury
- (free from excessive unwanted substances): sour
- ((informal) very pleasing): lame, uncool
Derived terms
- bittersweet
- boiled sweet
- flower-sweet
- honey-sweet
- meadowsweet
- semisweet
- short and sweet
- sickeningly sweet
- sickly sweet/sickly-sweet
- sugar-sweet
- sweet action
- sweet alison
- sweet almond
- sweet alyssum
- sweet and sour
- sweet as
- sweet as a nut
- sweet as pie
- sweet ball
- sweet balm
- sweet basil
- sweet bay
- sweet bells
- sweet birch
- sweet bread
- sweetbread
- sweet-breasted
- sweetbriar
- sweet butter
- sweet calabash
- sweet cassava
- sweet cheeks
- sweet cherry
- sweet chocolate
- sweet cicely
- sweet cider
- sweet clover
- sweet coltsfoot
- sweet corn/sweet-corn/sweetcorn
- sweet cream
- sweet cup
- sweet dreams
- sweet elder
- sweeten
- sweetener
- sweet FA
- sweet fern
- sweet flag
- sweet four o'clock
- sweet gale
- sweet goldenrod
- sweet grass
- sweetgrass
- Sweet Grass County
- sweet gum tree
- sweet hereafter
- sweet iron
- sweetish
- sweetkin
- sweet leaf
- sweet lemon
- sweet lime
- sweetly
- sweet marjoram
- sweet Mary
- sweetmeat
- sweet melon
- sweetness
- sweet nothings
- sweet oil
- sweet on
- sweet orange
- sweet pea
- sweet pepper
- sweet pickle
- sweet potato
- sweet rocket
- sweet roll
- sweetroot
- sweets
- sweet scabious
- sweet science
- sweet shrub
- sweet sixteen
- Sweet Sixteen
- sweet-smelling
- sweet-sop
- sweet sorghum
- sweet spot
- sweet sultan
- sweet-talk
- sweet talker
- sweet tea
- sweet tooth
- sweet unicorn plant
- sweet vermouth
- sweet vetch
- sweet violet
- sweet water
- sweet wattle
- sweet william/Sweet William
- sweet woodruff
- sweety
- sweet young thing
- unsweet
- winter sweet
Translations
See sweet/translations § Adjective.
Interjection
sweet
- Used as a positive response to good news or information.
- They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet!
Adverb
sweet (comparative more sweet, superlative most sweet)
- In a sweet manner.
- 1598, Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act 1 Scene 1:
- "and, sweet my child, let them be men of good repute and carriage."
- (and, my child, allow them sweetly to be men with good reputations and conduct)
- "and, sweet my child, let them be men of good repute and carriage."
- 1598, Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act 1 Scene 1:
Synonyms
- (in a sweet manner): sweetly
Translations
Noun
sweet (countable and uncountable, plural sweets)
- (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
Taste definition
One of the sensations produced by the tongue in response to certain chemicals; the quality of giving this sensation. (1 of 7 taste definitions)
- (countable, Britain) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
Candy definition
Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors. (1 of 3 candy definitions)
- (countable, Britain) A food eaten for dessert.
- Can we see the sweet menu, please?
- Sweetheart; darling.
- 1611, Ben Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy
- Wherefore frowns my sweet?
- 1611, Ben Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy
- (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 5”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- a wilderness of sweets
Perfume definition
A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor (1 of 2 perfume definitions)
- (obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:
- Fear's fire to fervency, which makes love's sweet prove nectar.
- 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:
Synonyms
- (sweet taste sensation): See sweetness
- (food that is high in sugar content): bonbon, candy (US), confection, confectionery, lolly (Australia)
- (food eaten for dessert): See dessert
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
sweet (third-person singular simple present sweets, present participle sweeting, simple past and past participle sweeted)
- (obsolete or poetic) To sweeten.
- 1825, John Breckinridge & C.R. Harrison, Western Luminary ... - Volume 1, page 318:
- In size and shape it resembles the heart of a calf, and the interior substance is similar to thick cream, sweeted with fine sugar.
- 1890, The Cincinnati Lancet-clinic - Volume 63, page 331:
- It might also be given in the form of a mixture — the drug being insoluble in a watery menstruum — suspended by the aid of mucilage and sweeted by any of the various flavoring syrups.
- 2012, Keith Ringkamp, PATIENCE WORTH: A Balm for Every Ill, →ISBN, page 34:
- A sour maketh sweets two-fold sweeted.
Anagrams
Afrikaans sweet definition
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Dutch zweet, from Middle Dutch sweet, from Old Dutch *sweit, *swēt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, from Proto-Indo-European *sweyd-.
Noun
sweet (uncountable)
- sweat
- Daar was baie sweet op haar voorhoof.
- There was a lot of sweat on her forehead.
Sweat definition
Fluid that exits the body through pores in the skin usually due to physical stress and/or high temperature for the purpose of regulating body temperature and removing certain compounds from the circulation. (1 of 7 sweat definitions)
Etymology 2
From Dutch zweten, from Middle Dutch swêten.
Verb
sweet (present sweet, present participle swetende, past participle gesweet)
- to sweat
Middle Dutch sweet definition
Etymology
From Old Dutch *swēt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-.
Noun
swêet n
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Alternative forms
- sweit
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “sweet”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek[1], 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J., “sweet”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek[2], The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1885–1929, →ISBN