Meaning & use
sweeten
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make food or drink taste sweeter by adding sugar, honey or another sweet ingredient.
Grammar: Takes an object: sweeten the tea.
Patterns
- sweeten something with something
- sweeten something to taste
She sweetened the oatmeal with a spoonful of honey.
Do you sweeten your coffee, or do you drink it black?
The sauce should be sweetened slightly with maple syrup.
verbtransitivefigurative
To make an offer, deal or unpleasant situation more attractive by adding something extra.
Grammar: Takes an object such as a deal or an offer: sweeten the offer.
Patterns
- sweeten a deal
- sweeten something with something
The company sweetened its offer with a signing bonus.
He tried to sweeten the bad news by promising a day off.
Lower taxes might sweeten the deal for investors.
verbintransitive
To become sweeter or more pleasant over time.
Grammar: No object: the grapes sweeten as they ripen.
Patterns
- sweeten with age
- sweeten over time
The fruit will sweeten as it ripens in the sun.
Her mood sweetened after a good night's sleep.
The wine sweetens slightly after a few years.
Word forms
| third person singular | sweetens |
|---|---|
| past tense | sweetened |
| past participle | sweetened |
| -ing form | sweetening |
Common combinations
- sweeten the deal
- The seller sweetened the deal by including the furniture.
- sweeten the pot
- They sweetened the pot with extra vacation days.
- sweeten to taste
- Stir in honey and sweeten to taste.
- sweeten the pill
- They gave a bonus to sweeten the pill of longer hours.
- sweeten naturally
- You can sweeten the dessert naturally with fruit.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sugar
- Sugar as a verb is narrower, since it means adding sugar specifically, while sweeten allows honey or other sweeteners.
- enhance
- Enhance is general and formal and does not suggest making something easier to accept like sweeten does.
- soften
- Soften reduces harshness or impact, but it does not offer any extra reward as sweeten a deal does.
- incentivize
- Incentivize is a business term for giving a reason to act, and it sounds more formal.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sweeten or sweaten?
sweeten vs sweaten
This is a common misspelling; the correct word is sweeten, from sweet, not sweat.
Practice
The airline tried to _____ the offer by adding free luggage.
Choose one answer.
To sweeten an offer is to make it more attractive. Sour and weaken would make it worse, and shorten is unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sweeten”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.