English Reference

Word

sweetened

Phoneticssweet·ened

US/ˈswitənd/

UK/swˈiːtənd/

Definition

adj. describes food or drink that has had sugar or another substance added to make it taste sweet.

adj. modified by the addition of sugar, honey, or a synthetic sweetener to enhance palatability. Often used as a participial adjective in culinary contexts.

Examples

“I prefer sweetened yogurt to the plain kind.”

“The recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk to give the dessert its thick, creamy texture.”

“While the original recipe was quite bitter, the modern version uses sweetened cocoa solids to appeal to a broader consumer demographic.”

Examples

simple

“I prefer sweetened yogurt to the plain kind.”

contextual

“The recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk to give the dessert its thick, creamy texture.”

complex

“While the original recipe was quite bitter, the modern version uses sweetened cocoa solids to appeal to a broader consumer demographic.”

Usage

Typically used attributively before a noun; can be modified by degree adverbs like 'heavily' or 'lightly'.

Etymology

From sweeten + -ed.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

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English Reference