Crossword clues for bitterness
bitterness
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bitterness \Bit"ter*ness\, n. [AS. biternys; biter better + -nys = -ness.]
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The quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind.
The lip that curls with bitterness.
--Percival.I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
--Job vii. 11. -
A state of extreme impiety or enmity to God.
Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
--Acts viii. 2 -
3. Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.
Looking diligently, . . . lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.
--Heb. xii. 15.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Old English biternys "bitterness, grief;" see bitter + -ness. Figurative sense (of feelings, etc.) is attested earlier than literal sense (of taste), which will surprise no one who reads any amount of Anglo-Saxon literature.\n
Wiktionary
n. 1 the quality of having a bitter taste 2 the quality of feeling bitter; acrimony, resentment
WordNet
Usage examples of "bitterness".
If he wept at the sight of an old tapestry which represented the crime and punishment of the son of Chosroes, if his days were abridged by grief and remorse, we may allow some pity to a parricide, who exclaimed, in the bitterness of death, that he had lost both this world and the world to come.
But as the breach between himself and Congress widened, as the bitterness between the partisans of the Executive and of the Legislative Departments grew more intense, the belief became general, that, as soon as Congress should adjourn, there would be a removal of all Federal officers throughout the Union who were not faithful to the principles, and did not respond to the exactions, of the Administration.
It requires but little discrimination to distinguish very clearly the peculiar bitterness of quassia in adulterated porter.
She would probably have been surprised if Father Damon had told her that she was in this following a great example, and there might have been a tang of agnostic bitterness in her reply.
The Wing Commander had to penetrate the veil of bitterness with which the pilot cloaked his account to see the fine airmanship that had got Robert down at all.
A certain bitterness both towards him and Alette was rooted into her heart.
And now we shall encounter revelations of another aspect of thisthe personal distress and bitterness experienced by scientists unfortunate enough to make anomalous discoveries.
He told himself in his bitterness that had she but broken down the barrier of reserve which held them asunder, he would have desired no dearer companionship.
I stopped and stood in contemplation of the forest we rode toward, attempting to avoid bitterness in thought, yet were my steps dogged by another, who stood himself behind me.
The bitterness about the bugle, added to all the other bitternesses, gave him something.
From the gray-leafed bush nearby where the flushed bullberries grew he fed himself, stripping it of every fruit and downing them mechanically, despite their measure of bitterness.
Separatists from the Church of England who, in the violence of their alienation and the bitterness of their sufferings, did not refrain from sour and acrid censoriousness toward the men who were nearest them in religious conviction and pursuing like ends by another course.
Viviana raged alone among the trees at dusk, bitterness eating out the apple of her heart like codling larvae.
By the time he reached Coft Castle the bitterness that had been welling in him since his interview with the Bursar had bred in him an indifference to etiquette.
A little bitterness still remained in my breast, so I told him that if he knew who forged the notes he could certainly escape the gallows, but that I should keep him prisoner till I got my money back.