take the bitter with the sweet

verb

To accept positive things with negative things.

“Today we had the bitter with the sweet: they approved the loan but only gave us a year to pay it back in.”

Similar
take the rough with the smooth
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbtake the bitter with the sweet (third-person singular simple present takes the bitter with the sweet, present participle taking the bitter with the sweet, simple past took the bitter with the sweet, past participle taken the bitter with the sweet)

present singular third person takes the bitter with the sweet · participle present taking the bitter with the sweet · past took the bitter with the sweet · participle past taken the bitter with the sweet

  1. idiomaticTo accept positive things with negative things.

    Today we had the bitter with the sweet: they approved the loan but only gave us a year to pay it back in.

    Synonyms: take the rough with the smooth

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo accept positive things with negative things.

Similar
take the rough with the smooth
Also see
take the rough with the smooth
Cite this entry
APA

take the bitter with the sweet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20bitter%20with%20the%20sweet

MLA

“take the bitter with the sweet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20bitter%20with%20the%20sweet. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take the bitter with the sweet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20the%20bitter%20with%20the%20sweet.

Source: take the bitter with the sweet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.