Definition

1. Noun:
   • A bitter-tasting plant: "wormwood" refers to any of several low-growing, aromatic, and typically bitter-tasting composite herbs belonging to the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium.
   • A source of bitterness or grief: By extension, "wormwood" can symbolize something that is profoundly bitter, harsh, or causes intense grief and resentment.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Plant):
  • The herbalist used dried wormwood in the traditional remedy.
  • Artemisia absinthium, a type of wormwood, is a key ingredient in absinthe.
• Noun (Figurative Bitterness):
  • The memory of his betrayal was wormwood to her soul.
  • The critic's harsh words were pure wormwood to the young author.

Advanced Usage

• "as bitter as wormwood": used to describe something extremely bitter in taste or feeling.
  • The defeat tasted as bitter as wormwood.
• "wormwood and gall": a biblical idiom denoting extreme bitterness and suffering.
  • He was forced to drink the cup of wormwood and gall.

Variants and Related Words

• Absinthe (n): A strong, anise-flavored alcoholic spirit historically made with wormwood.
  • The production of absinthe was once banned due to concerns about wormwood.
• Artemisinin (n): A drug derived from sweet wormwood () used to treat malaria.

Synonyms

• Bitterness (n): The quality of having a sharp, unpleasant taste; or feelings of anger and disappointment.
• Absinthium (n): The Latin name for common wormwood ().

Related Phrases

• To be one's wormwood: To be a source of continual bitterness or vexation to someone.
  • The lost opportunity became his wormwood for years.

Related Idioms

• To have a wormwood tongue: To speak in a very bitter, sharp, or resentful manner.
  • After the scandal, she spoke with a wormwood tongue about her former colleagues.

Noun

1. any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium