sweet

English Online Dictionary. What means sweet‎? What does sweet mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English 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 (“sweet”), North Frisian sweete (“sweet”), Saterland Frisian swäit (“sweet”), West Frisian swiet (“sweet”), Dutch zoet (“sweet”), German Low German sööt (“sweet”), German süß (“sweet”), Danish sød (“sweet”), Swedish söt (“sweet”), Norwegian søt (“sweet”), Icelandic sætur (“sweet”), Latin suāvis, Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús). Doublet of suave.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /swiːt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /swit/
• Homophone: suite
• Rhymes: -iːt

Adjective

sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)

1. Tasting of sugars.
2. (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

3. Not of a salty taste.

4. Of a pleasant smell.
5. Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.

6. Of a pleasant sound.
7. Of a pleasing disposition.
8. Of a helpful disposition.

9. (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.

10. (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
    • 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.

11. (Australia, slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.
12. (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated; enamored with; fond of.

13. Fresh; not salt or brackish.
14. (of soil, UK, dated) Alkaline.
16. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise lost (source), Samuel Simmons, page 278:

      Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

17. An intensifier.

Synonyms

• (of a taste of sugar): saccharine, sugary
• (containing a sweetening ingredient): sugared, sweetened
• (not of a salty taste): fresh, unsalty
• (of a pleasant smell): fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling
• (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale): fresh, unfermented, wholesome
• (of a pleasant sound): dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant
• (of a pleasing disposition): cute, lovable, pleasant
• (of a helpful disposition): kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful
• ((informal) very pleasing): rad, awesome, wicked

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of a pleasant taste”): bitter, sour, salty
• (antonym(s) of “containing a sweetening ingredient”): nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet
• (antonym(s) of “of wines: retaining a portion of natural sugar”): dry
• (antonym(s) of “not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale”): decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale
• (antonym(s) of “not of a salty taste”): salty, savoury
• (antonym(s) of “free from excessive unwanted substances”): sour
• (antonym(s) of “alkaline”): sour
• (antonym(s) of “(informal) very pleasing”): lame, uncool

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Interjection

sweet

1. Used as a positive response to good news or information.

Adverb

sweet (comparative more sweet, superlative most sweet)

1. In a pleasant manner.

Synonyms

• (in a sweet manner): sweetly

Translations

Noun

sweet (countable and uncountable, plural sweets)

1. (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
2. (countable, especially UK) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
3. (countable, especially UK) A food eaten for dessert.

4. Synonym of sweetheart, a term of affection.
   • 1936 Aug., Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", Cosmopolitan:

     "You think that I'll take anything."
     "I know you will, sweet..."
     "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."
     "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.

5. (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
6. (obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.

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

Verb

sweet (third-person singular simple present sweets, present participle sweeting, simple past and past participle sweeted)

1. (archaic or poetic) To sweeten.

Derived terms

• sweet upon

See also

• toot sweet

Anagrams

• Tewes, weest, weets

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /svɪə̯t/

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)

1. sweat

Etymology 2

From Dutch zweten, from Middle Dutch swêten.

Verb

sweet (present sweet, present participle swetende, past participle gesweet)

1. to sweat

Chinese

Alternative forms

• 時weet / 时weet (si⁴ wit¹), 是weet (si⁶ wit¹), 士weet (si⁶ wit¹)

Etymology

From English sweet.

Pronunciation

Adjective

sweet

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) romantic

Derived terms

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *swēt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-.

Noun

swêet n

1. sweat, perspiration

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• sweit

Derived terms

• swêten

Descendants

• Dutch: zweet
• Limburgish: zweit

Further reading

• “sweet”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “sweet”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English swete, from Old English swēte, from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swiːt/

Adjective

sweet

1. sweet

Derived terms

• sweethearth

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 94