bitterness

noun

Etymology: From Middle English bitternesse, biternesse, from Old English biternes (“bitterness; grief”), equivalent to bitter + -ness.

1. The quality of having a bitter taste.
2. The quality of feeling bitter; acrimony, resentment; the quality of exhibiting such feelings.

   “the bitterness of his words”

   “She kept her bitterness about her mistreatment for the rest of her life.”

3. The quality of eliciting a bitter, humiliating or harsh feeling.

   “Nothing could assuage the bitterness of their defeat.”

4. Harsh cold.

   “The bitterness of the winter caught us all by surprise.”