• (British) IPA: /swiːt/
• (GA) IPA: /swit/
• (RP) IPA: /swiːt/

sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)

1. Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

   a sweet apple

2. Having a taste of sugar.
   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel ↗":

     A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

3. (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

   Sweet wines are better dessert wines.

4. Not having a salty taste.

   sweet butter

5. Having a pleasant smell.

   a sweet scent

   • 1838, Longfellow, "Voices of the Night: The Reaper and the Flowers":

     The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.

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

   sweet milk

7. Having a pleasant sound.

   a sweet tune

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Scarlet Letter, Ticknor and Fields, page 135:

     a voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful

8. Having a pleasing disposition.

   a sweet child

9. Having a helpful disposition.

   It was sweet of him to help out.

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

    sweet gas

    sweet soil

    sweet crude oil

11. (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.

12. (slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.
13. anchor be_sweet_on(informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamoured with, fond of

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

14. (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.

    sweet water

    • 1627, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Natural History, in The Works of Francis Bacon (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.

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.

• (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
• (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale) 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
• ((informal) very pleasing) rad, awesome, wicked

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

• French: doux
• German: süß, lecker
• Italian: dolce
• Portuguese: doce
• Russian: сла́дкий
• Spanish: dulce, rico, sabroso, gustoso

• French: sucré
• German: süß
• Italian: dolce, zuccheroso
• Portuguese: doce
• Russian: сла́дкий
• Spanish: dulce

• French: sucré
• German: zuckerhaltig, gezuckert
• Italian: dolcificato, (with sugar) zuccherato
• Portuguese: doce, adocicado, adoçado
• Russian: сла́дкий
• Spanish: azucarado

• French: doux
• German: lieblich
• Italian: dolce
• Portuguese: suave
• Russian: сла́дкий
• Spanish: dulce

• French: doux
• Italian: (food) non salato, (water) dolce
• Portuguese: doce
• Russian: пре́сный
• Spanish: dulce

• German: wohlriechend, duftend, ^{(please verify)} Duft- (de) attention de
• Italian: profumato, fragrante
• Portuguese: perfumado, cheiroso
• Russian: души́стый
• Spanish: dulce, fragante, oloroso

• French: frais
• Italian: fresco
• Portuguese: fresco
• Spanish: fresco

• French: doux, mélodieux
• Italian: intonato, melodioso
• Portuguese: doce, melodioso
• Russian: сладкозву́чный
• Spanish: dulce, melodioso

• French: sympathique, sympa, doux
• German: süß, herzig, lieblich, liebenswürdig
• Italian: simpatico, dolce, carino
• Portuguese: doce, amável
• Russian: ми́лый
• Spanish: agradable, bello, dulce, encantador, hermoso, lindo, mono

• French: charmant, gentil
• German: nett
• Italian: dolce, gentile, carino, amabile
• Portuguese: amigável
• Russian: ми́лый
• Spanish: amable, benigno, tierno

• Italian: puro, genuino
• Portuguese: puro

• French: génial

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

   They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet!

sweet

1. In a sweet manner.
   • 1598, Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act 1 Scene 1:

     "and, sweet my child, let them be men of good repute and carriage."

     (and, my child, allow them sweetly to be men with good reputations and conduct)

• (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, British) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
3. (countable, British) A food eaten for dessert.

   Can we see the sweet menu, please?

4. Sweetheart; darling.
   • 1611, Ben Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy

     Wherefore frowns my sweet?

5. (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book 5”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:

     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

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

1. (obsolete or poetic) To sweeten.

1. Surname
2. A female given name.