bitterweed

[ bit-er-weed ]

noun

1. any of various plants containing a bitter principle, as those of the genus Picris.
2. a sneezeweed, Helenium amarum.

bitterweed

/ ˈbɪtəˌwiːd /

noun

1. any of various plants that contain a bitter-tasting substance

Word History and Origins

Origin of bitterweed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20; bitter + weed ¹

Example Sentences

Bitterweed and dandelion, which grow near the gate to her garden, are used for summer salads.

From Washington Times

Three Sixes is good, too, and if you haven’t got the money for quinine or 666 there is bitterweed: make a tea of nine of the yellow flowers and drink it.

From Slate

White, who books acts in Jackson and has a piece of a nightclub and aspires to open a restaurant, is something of a state celebrant; indeed, so sedulous is his enthusiasm for Mississippi that one need only ride along a few short miles listening to him before the bitterweed growing wild on the shoulders of the road begins to look like daisies.

From Time Magazine Archive

North Carolina in October is a land of quiet towns, paved roads busy with the traffic of harvest time, fields bright with yellow bitterweed, people warmed and sleepy in the last hot suns of fall.

From Time Magazine Archive