Definitions for: Sweet


[n] the property of containing sugar
[n] the taste experience when sugar dissolves in the mouth
[n] a food rich in sugar
[n] (British) dessert
[n] English phonetician; one of the founders of modern phonetics (1845-1912)
[adv] in an affectionate or loving manner; "Susan Hayward plays the wife sharply and sweetly"; (`sweet' is a poetic or informal variant for `sweetly' as in"how sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank"- Shakespeare; "talking sweet to each other")
[adj] having a natural fragrance; "odoriferous spices"; "the odorous air of the orchard"; "the perfumed air of June"; "scented flowers"
[adj] not having a salty taste; "sweet water"
[adj] having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub; "an angelic smile"; "a cherubic face"; "looking so seraphic when he slept"; "a sweet disposition"
[adj] pleasing to the ear; "the dulcet tones of the cello"
[adj] pleasing to the mind or feeling; "sweet revenge"
[adj] pleasing to the senses; "the sweet song of the lark"; "the sweet face of a child"
[adj] one of the four basic taste sensations; very pleasant; like the taste of sugar or honey
[adj] with sweetening added
[adj] (used of wines) having a sweet taste
[adj] having a pleasant taste (as of sugar)
[adj] not soured or preserved; "sweet milk"
[adj] not having undergone fermentation; "sweet cider"



Webster (1913) Definition: Sweet, a. [Compar. Sweeter; superl. Sweetest.] [OE.
swete, swote, sote, AS. sw[=e]te; akin to OFries. sw[=e]te,
OS. sw[=o]ti, D. zoet, G. s["u]ss, OHG. suozi, Icel. s[ae]tr,
s[oe]tr, Sw. s["o]t, Dan. s["o]d, Goth. suts, L. suavis, for
suadvis, Gr. ?, Skr. sv[=a]du sweet, svad, sv[=a]d, to
sweeten. [root]175. Cf. Assuage, Suave, Suasion.]
1. Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar;
saccharine; -- opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet
beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges.

2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a
sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.

The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
--Longfellow.

3. Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the
sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet
voice; a sweet singer.

To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
--Chaucer.

A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. --Hawthorne.

4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair;
as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.

Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods,
and plains. --Milton.

5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. --Bacon.

6. Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically:
(a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread.
(b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as,
sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.

7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable;
winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.

Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?
--Job xxxviii.
31.

Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one
established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold.

Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining
compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured,
sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc.

Sweet alyssum. (Bot.) See Alyssum.

Sweet apple. (Bot.)
(a) Any apple of sweet flavor.
(b) See Sweet-top.

Sweet bay. (Bot.)
(a) The laurel (laurus nobilis).
(b) Swamp sassafras.

Sweet calabash (Bot.), a plant of the genus Passiflora
(P. maliformis) growing in the West Indies, and
producing a roundish, edible fruit, the size of an apple.


Sweet cicely. (Bot.)
(a) Either of the North American plants of the
umbelliferous genus Osmorrhiza having aromatic roots
and seeds, and white flowers. --Gray.
(b) A plant of the genus Myrrhis (M. odorata) growing
in England.

Sweet calamus, or Sweet cane. (Bot.) Same as {Sweet
flag}, below.

Sweet Cistus (Bot.), an evergreen shrub (Cistus Ladanum)
from which the gum ladanum is obtained.

Sweet clover. (Bot.) See Melilot.

Sweet coltsfoot (Bot.), a kind of butterbur ({Petasites
sagittata}) found in Western North America.

Sweet corn (Bot.), a variety of the maize of a sweet taste.
See the Note under Corn.

Sweet fern (Bot.), a small North American shrub
(Comptonia, or Myrica, asplenifolia) having
sweet-scented or aromatic leaves resembling fern leaves.


Sweet flag (Bot.), an endogenous plant (Acorus Calamus)
having long flaglike leaves and a rootstock of a pungent
aromatic taste. It is found in wet places in Europe and
America. See Calamus, 2.

Sweet gale (Bot.), a shrub (Myrica Gale) having bitter
fragrant leaves; -- also called sweet willow, and {Dutch
myrtle}. See 5th Gale.

Sweet grass (Bot.), holy, or Seneca, grass.

Sweet gum (Bot.), an American tree ({Liquidambar
styraciflua}). See Liquidambar.

Sweet herbs, fragrant herbs cultivated for culinary
purposes.

Sweet John (Bot.), a variety of the sweet William.

Sweet leaf (Bot.), horse sugar. See under Horse.

Sweet marjoram. (Bot.) See Marjoram.

Sweet marten (Zo["o]l.), the pine marten.

Sweet maudlin (Bot.), a composite plant ({Achillea
Ageratum}) allied to milfoil.

Sweet oil, olive oil.

Sweet pea. (Bot.) See under Pea.

Sweet potato. (Bot.) See under Potato.

Sweet rush (Bot.), sweet flag.

Sweet spirits of niter (Med. Chem.) See {Spirit of nitrous
ether}, under Spirit.

Sweet sultan (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea
moschata}), also, the yellow-flowered (C. odorata); --
called also sultan flower.

Sweet tooth, an especial fondness for sweet things or for
sweetmeats. [Colloq.]

Sweet William.
(a) (Bot.) A species of pink (Dianthus barbatus) of many
varieties.
(b) (Zo["o]l.) The willow warbler.
(c) (Zo["o]l.) The European goldfinch; -- called also
sweet Billy. [Prov. Eng.]

Sweet willow (Bot.), sweet gale.

Sweet wine. See Dry wine, under Dry.

To be sweet on, to have a particular fondness for, or
special interest in, as a young man for a young woman.
[Colloq.] --Thackeray.

Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.


Sweet, n.
1. That which is sweet to the taste; -- used chiefly in the
plural. Specifically:
(a) Confectionery, sweetmeats, preserves, etc.
(b) Home-made wines, cordials, metheglin, etc.

2. That which is sweet or pleasant in odor; a perfume. ``A
wilderness of sweets.'' --Milton.

3. That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, the
sweets of domestic life.

A little bitter mingled in our cup leaves no relish
of the sweet. --Locke.

4. One who is dear to another; a darling; -- a term of
endearment. ``Wherefore frowns my sweet?'' --B. Jonson.


Sweet, adv.
Sweetly. --Shak.


Sweet, v. t.
To sweeten. [Obs.] --Udall.

Synonyms: afters, angelic, angelical, cherubic, cloying, confection, confectionery, dulcet, fragrant, fresh, gratifying, Henry Sweet, honeyed, lovable, loveable, mellifluous, mellisonant, melodic, melodious, musical, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, pleasing, saccharine, scented, seraphic, sugared, sugariness, sugary, sweetened, sweetish, sweetly, sweetness, sweetness, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling, syrupy, treacly, unfermented, unsalty, unsoured

Antonyms: dry, sour

See Also: candied apple, candy, candy apple, caramel apple, chewing gum, comfit, confiture, dainty, delicacy, dessert, goody, gum, gustatory perception, gustatory sensation, hardbake, kickshaw, maraschino, maraschino cherry, nonpareil, phonetician, saccharinity, sugariness, sweet, sweetmeat, taffy apple, taste, taste perception, taste property, taste sensation, tasteful, toffee apple, treat

Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Cheat

Words With Friends Cheat

Hanging With Friends Cheat

Scramble With Friends Cheat

Ruzzle Cheat



Related Resources:
animals starting with o