Embittered

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Filled with a persistent sense of resentment and bitterness due to negative life experiences or perceived slights
2. Exhibiting intense feelings of anger and disappointment that arise from prolonged exposure to unfair treatment or adversity
3. Having a deep-seated feeling of antagonism and discontent resulting from past struggles and injustices faced in life

Etymology: "Embittered" is the past tense and past participle of "embitter", which is built from "bitter" with a prefix that carries the sense "to make or become." So the word literally means "made bitter," and the adjective use, describing a person hardened by hardship, grows naturally out of that verb. The prefix is the same one found in "enlarge," "enrich," and "encourage," where en- turns a noun or adjective into a verb. In "embitter," the spelling em- simply appears before "b," a common adjustment in English, since the sounds of "n" and "m" shift before labial consonants like "b" and "p." The original image is physical taste. "Bitter" describes a sharp, unpleasant flavour, and the verb pictures something being made that way, the way a drink or a dish might be spoiled by an added ingredient. The emotional sense, a person's heart being soured by injury or disappointment, is a figurative extension of that taste, so the adjective carries the same picture of something once sweet turned sour.

Synonyms: resentful, discontented, soured, disillusioned, grieved

Antonyms: content, pleased, satisfied, happy, unbittered