sweet tooth
- noun
- /swit tuθ/
- Informal
- If you have a sweet tooth, you will love this chocolate cake.
I'm not going to lie, Chip, the moment you said free dessert, you know I got that sweet tooth.
- I'm not going to lie, Chip, the moment you said free dessert, you know I got that sweet tooth.
- Whether that's good or bad, I'm actually not sure, but I will say that it it cures my sweet tooth.
- If your health practices have sucked for two decades, if your health practice has sucked for a decade, don't blame it on your sweet tooth.
- Although if you have a sweet tooth, this might be a really good way of quenching a sweet tooth.
Examples
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They've got a real sweet tooth.
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I thought you might have a sweet tooth.
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This girl has got the biggest sweet tooth in the world.
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I got a little bit of a sweet tooth.
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And Daddy has such a sweet tooth.
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Anybody got a sweet tooth?
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I got a wicked sweet tooth tonight.
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Since I have a sweet tooth, my favorite part of that mix is the pancakes.
Blog text (17) -
Sometimes a small burst of sugar is all it takes to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Blog text (17) -
I have a significant sweet tooth that makes a day without dessert feel unsatisfying.
Blog text (8)
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
sweet + tooth
The phrase uses a simple metaphorical extension—a 'tooth' that likes 'sweet'—so a learner who knows both words can often guess it means a liking for sweet foods. However, the relation is figurative (personifying a body part to indicate preference) rather than strictly compositional, and not entirely predictable without exposure. Cross-linguistic parallels exist but vary, supporting partial but not full transparency.
Etymology
Sweet tooth comes from the simple picture of a single tooth that loves sweet food and always wants sugar, like a little spot in your mouth that can't resist candy. So, saying someone has a sweet tooth means they 'have a strong liking or craving for sweet foods and drinks'.