Meanings
comparative more bitterly · superlative most bitterly
- In a bitter manner.
Heidi threw herself down beside Clara's chair and began to cry bitterly.
1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 912 more examples
Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCLiverpool's £58m strikeforce of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez scored the goals that settled the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park - but Everton were left complaining bitterly about Jack Rodwell's controversial early red card.
2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0-2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport - Extremely.
On a bitterly cold evening at Wembley, the Lionesses knew only victory would be enough to keep alive Team GB's hopes of competing in Paris.
2023 December 1, Emma Sanders, “England 3-2 Netherlands”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbextremely and sharply
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishbiterlīċe
- Middle Englishbitterli
- Englishbitterly
From Middle English bitterli, biterli, biterliche, from Old English biterlīċe, bitterlīċe (“bitterly”), equivalent to bitter + -ly. Cognate with German Low German bitterlik (“bitterly”), German bitterlich (“bitterly”), Swedish bitterligen (“bitterly”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan amargament
- amargamentin a bitter manner
Czech hořce
- hořcein a bitter manner
Esperanto amare
- amarein a bitter manner
Finnish katkerasti
- katkerastiin a bitter manner
French amèrement
- amèrementin a bitter manner
German bitterlich
- bitterlichin a bitter manner
Hungarian epésen
- epésenin a bitter manner
Portuguese amargamente
- amargamentein a bitter manner
Russian го́рько
- го́рько (górʹko)in a bitter manner
Spanish amargamente
- amargamentein a bitter manner
Cite this entry
bitterly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bitterly
“bitterly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bitterly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bitterly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bitterly.
Source: bitterly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.