SWEETEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sweeten mean? 

• SWEETEN (verb)
  The verb SWEETEN has 2 senses:

1. make sweeter in taste

2. make sweeter, more pleasant, or more agreeable

  Familiarity information: SWEETEN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWEETEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sweeten    ... he / she / it sweetens   
Past simple: sweetened   
Past participle: sweetened   
-ing form: sweetening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make sweeter in taste

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

dulcify; dulcorate; edulcorate; sweeten

Hypernyms (to "sweeten" is one way to...):

change taste (alter the flavor of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sweeten"):

honey (sweeten with honey)

saccharify; sugar (sweeten with sugar)

candy; glaze; sugarcoat (coat with something sweet, such as a hard sugar glaze)

mull (heat with sugar and spices to make a hot drink)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

sour (make sour or more sour)

Derivation:

sweetener (something added to foods to make them taste sweeter)

sweetening (the act of adding a sweetener to food)

sweetening (something added to foods to make them taste sweeter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make sweeter, more pleasant, or more agreeable

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

sweeten a deal

Hypernyms (to "sweeten" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sweetener (anything that serves as an enticement)

sweetening (an improvement that makes something more agreeable)

 Context examples 

Their children were 60 percent more likely to have a high birth weight, compared to children born to women who never drank sweetened beverages.

(Drinking diet beverages during pregnancy linked to child obesity, NIH)

Evidence has shown that sugar-sweetened drinks are tied to an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and obesity, she added.

(Sugary Fruit Juices May Increase Risk of Early Death, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Eating too much processed meat (8.2%), sugar-sweetened beverages (7.4%), and unprocessed red meat (0.4%) also raised the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes-related deaths.

(How dietary factors influence disease risk, NIH)

A solution composed of a clear, sweetened hydroalcoholic liquid in which active and/or inert ingredient(s) are dissolved.

(Elixir Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

It may be sweetened and flavored with licorice and other substances.

(Chewing tobacco, NCI Dictionary)

A clear, pleasantly flavored, sweetened hydroalcoholic liquid containing dissolved medicinal agents; it is intended for oral use.

(Elixir Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A sweetened and flavored insoluble plastic material of various shapes which when chewed, releases a drug substance into the oral cavity.

(Chewing Gum Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A solid preparation containing one or more medicaments, usually in a flavored, sweetened base which is intended to dissolve or disintegrate slowly in the mouth.

(Lozenge Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

"Your stomach's sour. That's what's ailin' you. Swallow a spoonful of sody, an' you'll sweeten up wonderful an' be more pleasant company."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A high-carbohydrate diet includes such foods as pasta, breads, cookies, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

(Gene mutation points to new way to fight diabetes, obesity, heart disease, National Institutes of Health)