What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between sour and sweet?

sour | sweet |

Sweet is a antonym of sour.



As adjectives the difference between sour and sweet

is that sour is having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste while sweet is having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As nouns the difference between sour and sweet

is that sour is the sensation of a sour taste while sweet is the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As a verb sour

is to make sour.

As an adverb sweet is

in a sweet manner.

As a proper noun Sweet is

{{surname|lang=en}.

sour

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete) sowr

Adjective

(er)
  • Having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
  • Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
  • (rfex)
  • Tasting or smelling rancid.
  • (rfex)
  • Peevish or bad-tempered.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He was a scholar / Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, / But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
  • (of soil) Excessively acidic and thus infertile.
  • (of petroleum) Containing excess sulfur.
  • (rfex)
  • Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  • * Shakespeare
  • sour adversity
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil Dawkes , title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.}}

    Noun

  • The sensation of a sour taste.
  • (rfex)
  • A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.
  • (rfex)
  • (label) Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.
  • A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
  • (Edmund Spenser)

    Derived terms

    * laundry sour

    Verb

  • (label) To make sour.
  • (label) To become sour.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • So the sun's heat, with different powers, / Ripens the grape, the liquor sours .
  • (label) To make disenchanted.
  • * Shakespeare
  • To sour your happiness I must report, / The queen is dead.
  • (label) To become disenchanted.
  • (label) To make (soil) cold and unproductive.
  • (Mortimer)
  • To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    sweet

    English

    (wikipedia sweet)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
  • a sweet apple
  • Having a taste of sugar.
  • Containing a sweetening ingredient.
  • (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.
  • Sweet wines are better dessert wines.
  • Not having a salty taste.
  • sweet butter
  • * 1821 , Robert Thomas, The modern practice of physic
  • Nothing has been found so effectual for preserving water sweet at sea, during long voyages, as charring the insides of the casks well before they are filled.
  • Having a pleasant smell.
  • a sweet scent
  • * Longfellow
  • The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
  • Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.
  • sweet milk
  • Having a pleasant sound.
  • a sweet tune
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • a voice sweet , tremulous, but powerful
  • Having a pleasing disposition.
  • a sweet child
  • Having a helpful disposition.
  • It was sweet of him to help out.
  • (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.
  • sweet soil
    sweet crude oil
  • (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
  • The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2014
  • , date=November 14 , author=Stephen Halliday , title=Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=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.}}
  • (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamored (followed by with), fond (followed by of).
  • The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.
  • (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.
  • sweet water
    (Francis Bacon)
  • Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
  • a sweet''' face; a '''sweet colour or complexion
  • * Milton
  • Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

    Synonyms

    * (having a taste of sugar) saccharine, sugary * (containing a sweetening ingredient) sugared, sweetened * (not having a salty taste) fresh, unsalty * (having a pleasant smell) fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling * fresh, unfermented, wholesome * (having a pleasant sound) dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant * (having a pleasing disposition) cute, lovable, pleasant * (having a helpful disposition) kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful * rad, awesome, wicked

    Antonyms

    * (having a pleasant taste) bitter, sour, salty * (containing a sweetening ingredient) nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet * dry * decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale * (not having a salty taste) salty, savoury * (free from excessive unwanted substances) sour * lame, uncool

    Derived terms

    * bittersweet * boiled sweet * flower-sweet * honey-sweet * meadowsweet * semisweet * short and sweet * sickeningly sweet * sickly sweet/sickly-sweet * sugar-sweet * sweet action * (sweet alison) * (sweet almond) * (sweet alyssum) * sweet and sour * sweet as * sweet as a nut * sweet as pie * sweet ball * (sweet balm) * sweet basil * sweet bay * (sweet bells) * sweet birch * sweet bread * sweetbread * sweet-breasted * (sweetbriar) * (sweet calabash) * (sweet cassava) * sweet cheeks * sweet cherry * sweet chocolate * (sweet cicely) * sweet cider * (sweet clover) * (sweet coltsfoot) * sweet corn/sweet-corn/sweetcorn * sweet cream * sweet cup * sweet dreams * (sweet elder) * sweeten * sweetener * sweet FA * (sweet fern) * sweet flag * (vern, sweet four o'clock) * sweet gale * (sweet goldenrod) * sweet grass * sweet gum tree * sweet hereafter * sweet iron * sweetish * sweetkin * sweet leaf * sweet lemon * (sweet lime) * sweetly * (sweet marjoram) * sweet Mary * sweetmeat * (sweet melon) * sweetness * sweet nothings * sweet oil * sweet on * sweet orange * sweet pea * sweet pepper * sweet pickle * sweet potato * (sweet rocket) * sweet roll * sweetroot * sweets * sweet scabious * sweet science * (sweet shrub) * sweet sixteen * Sweet Sixteen * sweet-smelling * sweet-sop * (sweet sorghum) * sweet spot * (sweet sultan) * sweet-talk * sweet talker * sweet tooth * (sweet unicorn plant) * sweet vermouth * (sweet vetch) * (sweet violet) * sweet water * (sweet wattle) * sweet william/Sweet William * sweet woodruff * sweety * sweet young thing * unsweet * (winter sweet)

    Usage notes

    * Also used as a positive response to good news or information: They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet !

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a sweet manner.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (in a sweet manner) sweetly

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
  • (countable, British) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
  • (countable, British) A food eaten for dessert.
  • Can we see the sweet menu, please?
  • sweetheart; darling
  • * Ben Jonson
  • Wherefore frowns my sweet ?
  • (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
  • * Milton
  • a wilderness of sweets
  • (obsolete) That which is pleasing or welcome to the mind.
  • the sweets of domestic life

    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

    * sweet shop * sweetshop

    Statistics

    *