different between sweeten vs edulcorate

English

Etymology

From sweet +? -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?swi?t?n/, /?swi??n?/
• ,
• Rhymes: -i?t?n
• Hyphenation: sweet?en

Verb

sweeten (third-person singular simple present sweetens, present participle sweetening, simple past and past participle sweetened)

1. (transitive) To make sweet to the taste.

   to sweeten tea

2. (transitive) To make (more) pleasant or to the mind or feelings.

   to sweeten life

   to sweeten friendship

3. (transitive) To make mild or kind; to soften.

   to sweeten the temper

4. (transitive) To make less painful or laborious; to relieve.

   to sweeten the cares of life
5. (transitive) To soften to the eye; to make delicate.
   • 1695, John Dryden, De Arte Graphica

     Correggio has made his memory immortal by the strength he has given to his figures, and by sweetening his lights and shadows, and melting them into each other.

6. (transitive) To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter.

   to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected

   to sweeten the air

7. (transitive) To make warm and fertile.

   to dry and sweeten soils

8. (transitive) To restore to purity; to free from taint.

   to sweeten water, butter, or meat

9. (transitive) To make more attractive; said of offers in negotiations.

   to sweeten the deal by increasing the price offered

10. (intransitive) To become sweet.

Antonyms

• (to make warm and fertile): sour

Translations

English

Verb

edulcorate (third-person singular simple present edulcorates, present participle edulcorating, simple past and past participle edulcorated)

1. (rare) To sweeten.
2. (rare) To make more acceptable or palatable.
   • 2019, Valeria Luiselli, Lost Children Archive, Alfred A. Knopf, page 129:

     I guess I am simply accustomed to dealing with more edulcorated versions of xenophobia.

3. (rare) To free from acidity.

Translations

Derived terms

• edulcoration

Anagrams

• cleared out

Italian

Verb

edulcorate

1. second-person plural present indicative of edulcorare
2. second-person plural imperative of edulcorare
3. feminine plural of edulcorato