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sweet

sweet

76 1.0
A small sugary food eaten after a meal
  • noun
  • /swiːt/
: dulce
  • A waiter trundles the silver dessert cart, overflowing with sweets, past our table.
  • candy and sweets
  • give sweets
  • gifts and sweets

After lunch is when I start to crave sweets even though I'm not hungry.

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Examples

  • Mothers brought celebratory sweets to distribute in honor of a little daughter's first majles solo.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Janet was a typical teenage girl who was fond of sweets, music, and boys.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Get down to the sweet candy center, right?

  • Have you ever wanted to have a sweet little tasty snack?

  • You know I love me some sweets.

  • You would come on the bus with your blue umbrella and a bag of sweets for my children.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Penny would come home from school and eat cookies and sweets that her grandmother kept at her house.

    Academic text (1998)
  • After lunch is when I start to crave sweets even though I'm not hungry.

  • In England, an ideal afternoon involves conversation, sweets, and a spot of tea.

  • After lunch is when I start to crave sweets even though I'm not hungry.

Synonyms

candy
vssweet
  • US
901 1.0

A small sweet made from sugar, often with chocolate or nuts

covers both the dessert course and small sugary treats
dessert
vssweet
468 1.0

A sweet dish eaten at the end of a meal

is the meal course sense, while the key also means small sugary treats
candy bar
vssweet
  • US
77 1.0

A sweet made of chocolate or sugar that you eat as a snack

is the portable form of a small sugary food within dessert or treat category
lollipop
vssweet
46 1.0

A hard sweet on a small stick that you lick or suck

is a stick-mounted form meant for licking or sucking, unlike course desserts
goody
vssweet
  • UK
19 2.3

A small sweet food people eat for pleasure

is the casual term for desserts and small sugary items
hard candy
vssweet
  • US
12 1.0

A small sweet made from sugar that you suck rather than chew

is the firm, long lasting form compared with general dessert or small sugary items
sugar cookie
vssweet
  • US
12 1.1

A flat sweet cookie made from simple dough often decorated with icing or sugar

is a baked item within desserts rather than a tiny crystalline confection
caramel
vssweet
8 1.3

A firm chewy sweet made from cooked sugar and milk

is one specific chewy type among many sugary treats and desserts
chocolate candy
vssweet
  • US
6 1.0

A small sweet made with chocolate and eaten as a treat

is a specific type within the broader dessert or small sugary items
confection
vssweet
6 3.7

Sweet food like candy or a small cake

is the more everyday term covering desserts and small sugary treats
kiss
vssweet
5 4.4

A small sweet candy often made of chocolate and wrapped in foil

is the informal playful word for desserts or small sugary items
jimmies
vssweet
  • US
4 8.2

Small sweet pieces like chocolate or candy used to decorate ice cream and cakes

serve as decorative bits rather than standalone desserts or treats
sweet roll
vssweet
4 1.1

A small sweet bread made with yeast, often with cinnamon, nuts, or glaze

is a baked dessert item rather than a tiny standalone candy piece
lolly
vssweet
  • UK
3 6.4

A sweet treat on a stick like a lollipop or an ice pop

is the casual name for stick or frozen sugary snacks
sweetmeat
vssweet
  • Archaic
3 8.8

A small sweet food like candy or fruit covered in sugar eaten as a treat

can mean the dessert course as well as small sugary pieces
sugar candy
vssweet
3 1.0

A hard sweet made by boiling sugar and letting it cool

is the basic crystallized form among many desserts and treats
sugary snack
vssweet
2 1.0

A small sweet food high in sugar eaten between meals as a treat

is a broad label that includes desserts and small sugary items
afters
vssweet
  • UK
1 8.9

A sweet dish served at the end of a meal, like cake or ice cream

is the informal term for the dessert course, while the key also means treats
chewie
vssweet
  • UK
1 8.7

A small soft candy that you chew

is an informal name for chewy small sugary treats within the general category
light dessert
vssweet
1 2.7

A dessert that is not heavy and usually has fewer calories

is a less rich meal-ending option than many small sugary treats
mint candy
vssweet
1 1.0

A small sweet with a mint taste that is often hard or chewy

is a flavored subtype within the general dessert or small sugary items
candied fruit
vssweet
1 2.7

Fruit cooked in sugar syrup and coated in sugar for a sweet treat

is a fruit form of sugary treats, not general desserts or confections
candy kiss
vssweet
  • US
1 2.3

A small wrapped piece of chocolate you eat in one bite

refers more broadly to desserts or any small sugary item
honey crisp
vssweet
1 7.9

A thin hard sweet made with honey that breaks easily

is a delicate crunchy form among many small sugary treats
sweet taffy
vssweet
  • US
1 2.7

A chewy candy made from sugar and butter that people pull and stretch

is a specific chewy form rather than the general dessert or small sugary food
sweetling
vssweet
  • Archaic
7.4

A small piece of candy or chocolate

is the common term for desserts and small sugary items

Idioms

sweet dreams
  • Informal
46 1.4

To tell someone you hope they have nice dreams before they sleep

Sweet Jesus
  • Informal
28 9.9

A short spoken phrase showing strong surprise or shock

home sweet home
  • Informal
23 2.3

A warm, happy feeling when you are at your own home

short and sweet
  • Informal
13 4.0

Quick and pleasant without extra detail, often about a talk or message

A strong cry showing surprise or shock

sweet fuck all
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A very rude way to say you have nothing at all

5.4

Very pleasant and musical to hear like a singing bird

To do small kind things that make a team feel happy and work well together

9.9

Nothing at all is left

Do something slowly on purpose and without hurry

Compounds

70 1.0

A large root vegetable with sweet, starchy flesh you cook or bake

sweet spot
  • Informal
27 4.4

The best point where something works well

sweet talk
  • Informal
26 4.3

Flattering words that try to persuade someone but are not sincere

sweet pea
  • Baby Talk
25 3.0

A loving name adults use for a child or pet

sweet tooth
  • Informal
23 2.8

A strong liking for sweet foods like candy and cake

Having a pleasant scent

9 3.9

Having a pleasant, gentle face that looks kind

9 1.1

A type of corn with sweet, tender kernels that people eat as a vegetable when young

5 3.5

A short time of warm feelings you remember

sweet nothings
  • Informal
5 6.6

Soft loving words whispered to someone to show love

Having a pleasant sweet smell

sweet talker
  • Informal
4 5.6

A person who uses kind words to charm or trick people

4 1.1

A small sweet bread made with yeast, often with cinnamon, nuts, or glaze

3 3.0

A climbing garden plant with small fragrant flowers in pale colors

sweet young thing
  • Offensive
3 8.2

An attractive young woman often talked about in a kind way or as less grown-up

3 1.5

A large mild fruit often eaten as a vegetable with thick walls and a bell shape

Kind and gentle toward others

Dark, sweet wine made stronger with alcohol and flavored with herbs for cocktails

1 6.9

A grass with a sweet smell that grows near water

A type of chocolate that is not very sweet and is good for baking

1 2.7

A vegetable kept in sugar and vinegar that tastes sweet and sour

1 1.0

A round fruit with sweet juice and orange skin

1 3.5

A mild vegetable oil like olive oil that you use for cooking and skin care

1 2.6

A round fruit with sweet, juicy flesh eaten fresh

A garden flower with dense clusters of small flat-topped flowers and a pleasant smell

1 4.4

A small tree that makes edible nuts with a hard shell and pink flowers

Tasting like sugar or honey

1 7.7

A sticky fragrant substance from a tree used in medicine and perfume

A tall plant grown for its sweet juice used to make syrup

1 7.2

A slow time someone takes on purpose that annoys other people

1 4.1

A gentle type of jazz with a steady beat, medium speed, little improvisation, and a warm clear melody

1 6.1

A North American tree with star-shaped leaves and prickly round fruits

sweet hereafter
  • Literature
1 9.1

A peaceful and pleasant life after death that gives comfort

1 2.0

A green herb with a strong smell used to flavor food like tomatoes

1 6.0

A North American tree with spiky round seed balls and sweet-smelling sap and red leaves in autumn

1 8.6

A low shrubby plant with fern-like leaves that smell sweet, from North America

1 3.4

A fruit like a lemon but sweeter and less sour

1 8.9

A tall garden plant with strong sweet-smelling purple or white flowers that smell at night

A pale yellow oil from almonds that people use for cooking and for skin or hair

1 7.9

A small egg-shaped clay wind instrument with a mouthpiece and finger holes

A trailing plant grown for its large sweet roots eaten as food

1 2.3

Apple juice made from pressed apples that has no alcohol

A low plant with small white flowers and a sweet smell used to cover the ground and flavor drinks

1 4.7

A plant grown for hay that makes soil richer for other plants

A low garden plant with many small, sweet-smelling white flowers

A fragrant herb with small leaves used to flavor food

1 2.0

A tree that grows sweet red fruit you can eat or the fruit it makes

1 3.4

A lemon tree and its fruit that have a mild, sweet taste and can be eaten fresh

1 7.5

A small tree or bush from the southeastern United States with fragrant white flowers

A plant with scented leaves used to make medicine

1 9.8

A marsh plant with long pointed leaves and roots that have a strong smell

1 5.7

A bushy herb in the mint family with lemon-scented leaves, also called lemon balm

1 5.8

A small plant with purple or white flowers that smell sweet

1 3.8

A large tree that loses its leaves and makes nuts you can eat and good wood

1 9.6

A bush with spikes of sweet-smelling white flowers that grows near streams and coasts and attracts bees

1 9.9

A European garden herb with fern-like leaves, white flowers and a sweet aniseed taste

sweet-breathed
  • Literature
1 7.2

Having a pleasant smell coming from the mouth

sweet cassava
  • Australian
1 5.7

A cassava with roots that need less cooking and leaves used to feed animals

1 8.4

A bush with fragrant white flowers that bloom in summer

1 9.9

A bush that loses its leaves and has long clusters of pink flowers

sweet-potato whitefly
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A small insect that attacks sweet potatoes and other crops and spreads plant viruses

A tree that grows sweet oranges used for eating and making juice

1 7.3

A hardy shrub with clove-scented wood and fragrant reddish-brown flowers

sweet-scented geranium
  • South African
1 7.9

A plant with divided leaves and pink flowers that smell sweet

1 8.1

A small shrub with sweet-smelling flowers that bloom in winter

1 9.9

A yellow tropical fruit with juicy sweet flesh

A marsh plant with long leaves and sweet-smelling roots used for flavoring and medicine

1 6.7

A North American tree with dark bark that smells like mint and has hard wood used for furniture

A plant with yellow flowers that improves soil and attracts bees

A North American tree with star-shaped leaves, spiky round fruit, and sticky fragrant sap

1 9.9

A small bush that grows in wet places and has bitter leaves with a strong smell

1 9.6

A North American bush that people use to make jam and wine from its purple-black berries

1 9.9

A person who is innocent and trusts people easily

How Sweet

sweet
76 1.0
fruit
809 1.0
biscuit
  • US
9 1.0

Surface Forms

sweet singular
sweets plural

Etymology

Sweet comes from Old English swete meaning 'pleasant' or 'sugary', and you can see the same idea in the English verb sweeten. So a sweet as a dessert or candy is food that tastes sugary and pleasant.