as in sorrowfully
with feelings of bitterness or grief
cried bitterly after her grandmother died
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Recent Examples of bitterly
In the capital, Kyiv, temperatures well below zero and bitterly cold winds are expected for the next four days at least.
—
Tim Lister, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
The business relationship appears to have ended bitterly, based on the emails.
—John Diedrich, jsonline.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Friday and Saturday are First Alert Weather Days for a one-two punch of snow showers Friday afternoon and evening, and bitterly cold temperatures along with disruptive winds Saturday.
—Steven Sosna, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
The union had bitterly opposed Newsom in his race.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
On these bitterly cold winter days, nothing sounds better than defrosting in a sauna.
—Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 1 Feb. 2026
And while some temporary relief is likely, the polar vortex could unleash another surge of bitterly cold air across the central and eastern United States around the middle of February, according to AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pastelok.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 31 Jan. 2026
As the war grinds through another bitterly cold winter, Russian strikes hit an apartment block Wednesday on the outskirts of Kyiv, killing two people.
—Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026
While the snow will not be as heavy as what Louisville faced during Winter Storm Fern, bitterly cold temperatures are expected to linger for several days.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Jan. 2026
Tim Lister, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
The business relationship appears to have ended bitterly, based on the emails.
—John Diedrich, jsonline.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Friday and Saturday are First Alert Weather Days for a one-two punch of snow showers Friday afternoon and evening, and bitterly cold temperatures along with disruptive winds Saturday.
—Steven Sosna, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
The union had bitterly opposed Newsom in his race.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
On these bitterly cold winter days, nothing sounds better than defrosting in a sauna.
—Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 1 Feb. 2026
And while some temporary relief is likely, the polar vortex could unleash another surge of bitterly cold air across the central and eastern United States around the middle of February, according to AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pastelok.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 31 Jan. 2026
As the war grinds through another bitterly cold winter, Russian strikes hit an apartment block Wednesday on the outskirts of Kyiv, killing two people.
—Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026
While the snow will not be as heavy as what Louisville faced during Winter Storm Fern, bitterly cold temperatures are expected to linger for several days.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bitterly
Adverb
-
Tarun would tease her, and my mother would look sorrowfully toward Kavitha, as if the two of them now shared some womanly burden.—
Madhuri Vijay,
New Yorker,
16 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
So, Elliott Gould’s character, Legal, sadly dies this season.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Although the movie indicated that, sadly, little in Congress has changed — the same bickering and same patronage — our world has changed.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
For their part, Democratic leaders spoke mournfully of limits, of energy shortages, of national decline, of a crisis of confidence itself.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Based on the Dylan Thomas prose poem of the same name, published in 1952, the film lovingly and mournfully depicts the boyhood Christmastime of an old Welshman, tenderly and a tad mischievously embodied by Elliott.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
21 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
The Seahawks came painfully close to becoming back-to-back champions.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
But the ethical questions that the case had raised—about the meaning of family and the commodification of children, the tension between reproductive autonomy and contractual compulsion—were left painfully unresolved.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
What has been hardest is seeing ordinary lives, families, young people, civilians slowly reduced to headlines or abstractions, rather than recognized as individuals living under immense and sustained pressure.—
Emily Chan,
Vogue,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Essentially, what seem like small tweaks have noticeable impacts on control when pushing the ski hard.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
14 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bitterly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bitterly. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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