Added 9 October 2026
saccharine
/ˈsækəɹaɪn/ adjective
In Latin: saccharīnus Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about saccharine at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Of or relating to sugar; sugary.
- Containing a large or excessive amount of sugar.
- Excessively sweet in action or disposition, especially if romantic or sentimental to the point of ridiculousness; sickly sweet, syrupy.
noun
- Something which is saccharine or sweet; sugar.
- Sentimentalism.
adjective
- Of or relating to saccharin (“a white, crystalline powder, C7H5NO3S, used as an artificial sweetener in food products”).
noun
Origin
From New Latin saccharum (“sugar”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Saccharum is derived from saccharon (“syrupy liquid from bamboo or reeds”), from Ancient Greek σάκχαρον (sákkharon), from Pali sakkharā (“sugar; gravel; granule, grain; crystal; potsherd”), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar; cotton sugar, sugarmaple; gravel, grit, pebbles; potsherd”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“boulder; gravel”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)