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sweet
sweet / swēt/ • adj. 1. having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar or honey; not salty, sour, or bitter: a cup of hot sweet tea | fig. a sweet taste of success. ∎ (of air, water, or food) fresh, pure, and untainted: lungfuls of the clean, sweet air. ∎ [often in comb.] smelling pleasant like flowers or perfume; fragrant: sweet-smelling flowers. 2. pleasing in general; delightful: it was the sweet life he had always craved. ∎ highly satisfying or gratifying: some sweet, short-lived revenge. ∎ [often as interj.] inf. used in expressions of assent or approval: Yeah, I'd like to come to the party. Sweet. ∎ working, moving, or done smoothly or easily: the sweet handling of this motorcycle. ∎ (of sound) melodious or harmonious: the sweet notes of the flute. ∎ denoting music, esp. jazz, played at a steady tempo without improvisation. 3. (of a person or action) pleasant and kind or thoughtful: a very sweet nurse came along. ∎ (esp. of a person or animal) charming and endearing: a sweet little cat. ∎ (sweet on) inf., dated infatuated or in love with: she seemed quite sweet on him. ∎ dear; beloved: my sweet love. ∎ archaic used as a respectful form of address: go to thy rest, sweet sir. 4. used for emphasis in various phrases and exclamations: What had happened? Sweet nothing. ∎ (one's own sweet ——) used to emphasize the unpredictable individuality of someone's actions: I'd rather carry on in my own sweet way. • n. 1. chiefly Brit. a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar: a bag of sweets. 2. (sweets) sweet foods, collectively: Americans eat too many sweets. ∎ Brit. a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; a dessert: she served up a lovely sweet made with whipped chestnuts and almond paste. 3. used as an affectionate form of address to a person one is very fond of: hello, my sweet. 4. (the sweet) archaic or poetic/lit. the sweet part or element of something: you have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. ∎ (sweets) the pleasures or delights found in something: the sweets of office. PHRASES: sweet dreams used to express good wishes to a person going to bed. sweet sixteen used to refer to the age of sixteen as characterized by prettiness and innocence in a girl.DERIVATIVES: sweet·ish adj. sweet·ly adv. |
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Cite this article
"sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sweet005.html "sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sweet005.html |
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sweet
sweet pleasing to the senses or the mind; dearly loved or prized; kindly, gracious. OE. swēte = OS. swōti (Du. zoot), OHG. s(w)uozi (G. süss), ON. sœtr :- Gmc. *swōtja-, *swōti- (cf. Goth. suts), f. *swōt- :- IE. *swād-, repr. by Skr. svādú-, Gr. hēdús, L. suāvis (:- *swadwis). Comps. sweet-bread pancreas. XVI; perh. OE. bræd flesh = OS. brādo ham, calf of leg, etc.; but the reason for the name is unkn. sweetheart XIII. sweetmeat †sweet cake, etc.; sugarplum, lollipop XV; cf. OE. swēt-, swōtmettas dainties. sweet william species of pink. XVI.
Hence sweet sb. XIII. sweeten (-EN5) XVI. sweetie (-IE) sweetmeat XVIII; sweet one XIX. sweeting (-ING3) sweetheart XIII; sweet variety of apple XVI. sweetly (-LY2), sweetness OE. |
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T. F. HOAD. "sweet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "sweet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sweet.html T. F. HOAD. "sweet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sweet.html |
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sweet
sweet sweet sixteen sixteen regarded as the characteristic age of prettiness and innocence in a girl.
See also little fish are sweet, revenge is sweet, stolen fruit is sweet, sweetest, sweetness. |
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sweet." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sweet." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-sweet.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sweet." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-sweet.html |
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Sweet
Sweet / swēt/ , Sarah C., see Jewett. |
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Cite this article
"Sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sweet.html "Sweet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sweet.html |
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sweet
sweet
•accrete, beat, beet, bittersweet, bleat, cheat, cleat, clubfeet, compete, compleat, complete, conceit, Crete, deceit, delete, deplete, discreet, discrete, eat, effete, élite, entreat, escheat, estreat, excrete, feat, feet, fleet, gîte, greet, heat, leat, leet, Magritte, maltreat, marguerite, meat, meet, mesquite, mete, mistreat, neat, outcompete, peat, Pete, petite, pleat, receipt, replete, seat, secrete, sheet, skeet, sleet, splay-feet, street, suite, sweet, teat, treat, tweet, wheat
•backbeat • heartbeat • deadbeat
•breakbeat • offbeat • browbeat
•downbeat • drumbeat • upbeat
•sugar beet • Blackfeet • flatfeet
•forefeet • exegete • polychaete
•lorikeet • parakeet
•athlete, biathlete, decathlete, heptathlete, pentathlete, triathlete
•kick-pleat • paraclete • obsolete
•gamete • crabmeat • sweetmeat
•mincemeat • forcemeat • backstreet
•concrete • window seat
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Cite this article
"sweet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sweet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sweet.html "sweet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sweet.html |
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