How to use bittersweet in a sentence

23 example sentences · adjective, noun

Bittersweet means both bitter and sweet. Example: “The break-up was very bittersweet; they both hurt to end it, but were glad it was over.”

Examples of bittersweet by meaning

adjectiveBoth bitter and sweet.

The dark green mooncake is loaded with matcha-infused salted egg yolk custard, which gives a bittersweet taste.2016 August 21, Kenneth Goh, “Roll over, chocolate lava cakes — here come lava mooncakes”, in The Straits Times

adjectiveExpressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.

The break-up was very bittersweet; they both hurt to end it, but were glad it was over.
While the final festivities were bittersweet, David and Lisa insisted on a party rather than a funeral.2020 January 16, Diana Hubbell, “Bittersweet Berlin goodbye as Clärchens Ballhaus faces uncertain future”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
It’s bittersweet for us, too.2023 April 21, John Poulos, “Dominion’s C.E.O.: Why We Settled the Lawsuit Against Fox News”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

nounA vine, of the genus Celastrus, having small orange fruit that open to reveal red seeds.

Over by the creek-bed scarlet-flamed sumac shouldered the silver-green of the willows, and orange-colored bittersweet crept through the tangle of wild plums.1935, Bess Streeter Aldrich, chapter 43, in Spring Came on Forever

More sentences with bittersweet

The chocolate that I prefer for most recipes for this book is bittersweet chocolate pistoles.2008, Warren Brown, “Pound Cakes”, in CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, →ISBN, Chocolate-Apricot Pound Cake. From the entry pistole
Prized for its bright yellow, bittersweet flesh, Mao Shan Wang was a best-selling durian this year.2008, 5 September, Tan Hsueh Yun, PURR-FECTLY YUMMY, The Straits Times, page 21. From the entry mao shan wang
This new sense of self, exhilarating as it was, also carries a bittersweet tinge for most members.1998, Irvin D. Yalom, The Yalom Reader. From the entry undust
In the poem "Among School Children" Yeats gives the nugacity of temporal life a bittersweet rendering.1980, Carl A. Raschke, The Interruption of Eternity: Modern Gnosticism and the Origins of the New Religious Consciousness, page 120. From the entry nugacity
There was no penance, how bittersweet soever, could make him a little worthy of her.1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company…. From the entry soever
The second way is the appearance of lahpet (pickled tea) – a bittersweet, astringent and savoury food that's unique to Burma.2019, MiMi Aye, Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN. From the entry lahpet
And by "pretty good" I mean "angst and bittersweet feels".2017 August 27, Alicorna, Reddit. From the entry Solasmancer
In a central section the distortion was removed from the amplification, and the writing was lively in a bittersweet, Shostakovichesque way.2005 February 8, Allan Kozinn, “The Moods of Sliding Scales, From Ethereal to Animated”, in The New York Times. From the entry Shostakovichesque
Substitute white chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate, and finish the krembos with more crumbled dehydrated raspberries and some optional chopped unsalted pistachios.2016 October, Uri Scheft with Raquel Pelzel, “[Sweets & Cookies] Raspberry Krembos”, in Breaking Breads: A New World of Israeli Baking…. From the entry krembo
Bittersweet nostalgia swept over her as she recalled the night she and Rosa had transformed a desperately lonely troll into a confident kickass female.2014, Camille Anthony, Werewulf Journals, →ISBN. From the entry troll job
The coveted Mao Shan Wang, or Cat Mountain King, is a premium breed known for its creamy and sticky texture and bittersweet taste.2010, 1 August, Kelvin Lim, The Durian Express, The Sunday Times, page 10. From the entry mao shan wang
Across the city yesterday, there was a feeling of bittersweet reunion as streams of humanity converged and mingled at dozens of memorial services.2006 September 11, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The…. From the entry mingle
The name of the food is “sweet chocolate”, “sweet chocolate coating”, “semisweet chocolate”, “semisweet chocolate coating”, “bittersweet chocolate”, or “bittersweet chocolate coating”, as appropriate.1998 April 1, “Code of Federal Regulations”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 2, 123, clause (c). From the entry semisweet chocolate
Sigrid took a bittersweet trip down memory lane when Anne opened the carton of ornaments and lifted out a crumpled tinsel star.1989, Margaret Maron, Corpus Christmas (A Crime Club Book), Warner Books edition, New York, N.Y.: Mysterious Press, published 2001, →ISBN…. From the entry memory lane
Heralded for their dark colors and bittersweet chocolate flavors, schwarzbiers are represented on U.S. shores by Köstritzer Black Beer, imported by Friedlin & Assoc.1981, Market Watch, page 29. From the entry schwarzbier
There is a bittersweet finality to ending our tour at Burnham-on-Sea, and a distinct end-of-an-era feeling that comes with a visit to the now-trainless and steamer-less, quaint seaside town.2020 October 21, Dr Joseph Brennan, “From the main line and over the waves”, in Rail, page 61. From the entry trainless
A shrub called mountain-lover, a member of the bittersweet family, appears in Jessamine Creek Gorge, said Tara Littlefield, a botanist with the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission.2014 February 24, Greg Kocher, “Jessamine’s rare plants include mountain-lover, water stitchwort”, in Lexington Herald-Leader, volume 32…. From the entry mountain-lover
Full of Coxon's trademark sarky lyricism, this 14-track concept album celebrates and laments the bittersweet nature of love, avoiding being dull or mawkish by being so gorgeous and satisfyingly coherent.2006 February 19, Nosheen Iqbal, “Graham Coxon, Love Travels at Illegal Speeds”, in The Observer. From the entry sarky

Meaning of bittersweet

adjective Both bitter and sweet.
adjective Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.
adjective Of bittersweet color (see the noun section, below).

Full definition of bittersweet

Questions about bittersweet in a sentence

How do you use bittersweet in a sentence?: Bittersweet is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The break-up was very bittersweet; they both hurt to end it, but were glad it was over.”
What is a short sentence with bittersweet?: “It’s bittersweet for us, too.”
What does bittersweet mean?: Bittersweet means both bitter and sweet.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bittersweet (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use bittersweet in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/bittersweet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.