# sweeten up

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/sweeten-up
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To make sweet to the taste.

## Examples

- You should sweeten up your tea with a little honey.
- The recipe is a bit bitter, so you might want to sweeten up the sauce with some sugar.
- To balance the sharp acidity of the fresh berries, the chef decided to sweeten up the dessert with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.