From Middle English swete, from Old English swēte, from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz, from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus.

Cognate and synonymous with Scots sweit, Northern Frisian sweete, Saterland Frisian swäit, Western Frisian swiet, Dutch zoet, nds-de sööt, German süß, Danish sød, Swedish söt, Norwegian søt, Icelandic sætur, Latin suāvis, Sanskrit स्वादु, Ancient Greek ἡδύς. Doublet of suave.

• (RP) IPA: /swiːt/
• (America) IPA: /swit/

sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)

1. Tasting of sugars.

   a sweet apple

2. (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

   Sweet wines are better dessert wines.

3. Not of a salty taste.

   sweet butter

4. Of a pleasant smell.

   a sweet scent

   • 1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Reaper and the Flowers”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC ↗, page 8 ↗:

     Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, / I will give them all back again.

5. Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.

   sweet milk

6. Of a pleasant sound.

   a sweet tune

   • a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Hymn of Pan”, in Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, editor, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC ↗, page 169 ↗:

     The cicale above in the lime, / And the lizards below in the grass, / Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, / Listening to my sweet pipings.

7. Of a pleasing disposition.

   a sweet child

   You're so sweet!

8. Of a helpful disposition.

   It was sweet of him to help out.

9. (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.

   sweet gas

   sweet soil

   sweet crude oil

10. (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.

    The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.

    • 14 November 2014, Steven Haliday, Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero

      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.

11. (Australian, slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.
12. (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated; enamored with; fond of.

    The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.

13. Fresh; not salt or brackish.

    sweet water

    • 1627, Francis Bacon, “Sylva Sylvarum: or A Natural History”, in The Works of Francis Bacon, published 1826, page 66:

      The white of an egg, or blood mingled with salt water, doth gather the saltness and maketh the water sweeter; this may be by adhesion.

14. (of soil, UK, dated) Alkaline.
15. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.

    a sweet face

    a sweet colour or complexion

    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise lost (source), Samuel Simmons, page 278:

      Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

16. An intensifier.

• (of a taste of sugar) saccharine, sugary
• (containing a sweetening ingredient) sugared, sweetened
• (not of a salty taste) fresh, unsalty
• (of a pleasant smell) fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling
• (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale) fresh, unfermented, wholesome
• (of a pleasant sound) dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant
• (of a pleasing disposition) cute, lovable, pleasant
• (of a helpful disposition) kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful
• ((informal) very pleasing) rad, awesome, wicked

• (antonym(s) of “of a pleasant taste”): bitter, sour, salty
• (antonym(s) of “containing a sweetening ingredient”): nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet
• (antonym(s) of “of wines: retaining a portion of natural sugar”): dry
• (antonym(s) of “not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale”): decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale
• (antonym(s) of “not of a salty taste”): salty, savoury
• (antonym(s) of “free from excessive unwanted substances”): sour
• (antonym(s) of “alkaline”): sour
• (antonym(s) of “(informal) very pleasing”): lame, uncool

see sweet/translations

1. Used as a positive response to good news or information.

   They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet!

sweet

1. In a sweet manner.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XXXVII, page 57 ↗:

     Go down beside thy native rill,
     ⁠On thy Parnassus set thy feet,
     ⁠And hear thy laurel whisper sweet
     About the ledges of the hill.

• (in a sweet manner) sweetly

• French: doucement
• Italian: dolcemente
• Portuguese: docemente
• Spanish: dulcemente

sweet

1. (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
2. (countable, especially UK) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
3. (countable, especially UK) A food eaten for dessert.

   Can we see the sweet menu, please?

4. Synonym of sweetheart, a term of affection.
   • 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC ↗, Act I, signature B2, verso ↗:

     VVherefore frovvnes my ſvveet? / Haue I too long bene abſent from theſe lips, / This cheeke, theſe eyes?

   • 1936 Aug., Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", Cosmopolitan (magazine):

     "You think that I'll take anything."
     "I know you will, sweet..."
     "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."
     "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.

   Good evening, my sweet.
5. (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:

     a wilderness of sweets

6. (obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.
   • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:

     Fear's fire to fervency, which makes love's sweet prove nectar.

• (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

• French: friandise, bonbon, sucreries
• German: Süßigkeit, Bonbon
• Italian: dolcetto, caramella
• Portuguese: doce
• Russian: конфе́та
• Spanish: dulce, caramelo, chuche, confite (Costa Rica)

sweet (sweets, present participle sweeting; simple past and past participle sweeted)

1. (archaic or poetic) To sweeten.

• As an English surname, from the adjective sweet.
• As a German - and Jewish surname, translated from Suess, from süß.
• As a French - surname, translated from Ledoux.

1. Surname.
2. A female given name.
3. An unincorporated community in Gem County, Idaho.