Sweet vs. Sweat — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 19, 2023
"Sweet" refers to a pleasant taste, like sugar, while "Sweat" is the moisture excreted by skin, often due to heat or exercise.
Difference Between Sweet and Sweat
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
When someone mentions "Sweet" in the context of food, they're often referring to the opposite of savory or bitter tastes. Foods like candy, pastries, and fruits are frequently described as sweet. "Sweat," however, brings to mind images of physical exertion, such as an intense workout, leading to perspiration.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
"Sweet" is primarily an adjective used to describe something that has a sugary taste or pleasant disposition. For instance, honey has a sweet flavor. On the other hand, "Sweat" is primarily a noun referring to the salty liquid that the skin produces, especially when hot, exerted, or nervous.
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Oct 19, 2023
Beyond the literal sense, "Sweet" can be used figuratively to describe experiences, sounds, or personalities that are delightful or agreeable. A melodious tune might be described as having a sweet sound. "Sweat" can also have figurative meanings, such as in the phrase "breaking a sweat," which means exerting effort.
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Oct 19, 2023
"Sweet" can also be used as a noun, especially in British English, to refer to candy or confectionery. For example, children might be given a bag of sweets. In contrast, "Sweat" can be used as a verb, meaning to excrete the liquid through the skin or to fret about something.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Another differentiation is in their idiomatic usage. Phrases like "sweet dreams" or "home sweet home" emphasize comfort and pleasure. Phrases involving "Sweat," like "don't sweat the small stuff," emphasize not worrying or exerting too much effort on minor matters.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Part of Speech
Primarily an adjective, but can also be a noun.
Primarily a noun, but can also be a verb.
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Oct 19, 2023
Main Definition
Having a pleasant, sugary taste.
The moisture excreted by the skin, especially when hot or exerted.
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Oct 19, 2023
Figurative Meaning
Delightful or agreeable experiences, sounds, or personalities.
Exerting effort or being worried about something.
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Idiomatic Usage
Used in phrases emphasizing comfort and pleasure (e.g., "sweet dreams").
Used in phrases emphasizing effort or worry (e.g., "don't sweat it").
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Opposite Meaning
Opposite of savory or bitter tastes.
Opposite of being dry or calm.
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Definitions
Sweat
To perspire, especially due to heat or physical activity.
I sweat profusely during my workout.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sweat
To be anxious or worried about something.
Don't sweat the details; everything will be fine.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sweet
Having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar or honey; not salt, sour, or bitter
A cup of hot sweet tea
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweat
A state of anxiety or impatience.
Waiting for the results put me in a sweat.
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Sweet
Pleasing in general; delightful
It was the sweet life he had always craved
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweat
Moisture exuded through the pores of the skin, typically in profuse quantities as a reaction to heat, physical exertion, fever, or fear
Beads of sweat broke out on her brow
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Sweet
(of a person or action) pleasant and kind or thoughtful
It was sweet of you to come
A very sweet nurse came along
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Sweet
Used for emphasis in various phrases and exclamations
What had happened? Sweet nothing
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Sweat
Heat (chopped vegetables) slowly in a pan with a small amount of fat, so that they cook in their own juices
Sweat the celery and onions with olive oil and seasoning
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Sweat
Subject (metal) to surface melting, especially to fasten or join by solder without a soldering iron
The tyre is sweated on to the wooden parts
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Sweet
The sweet part or element of something
You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet
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Sweat
To exude in droplets, as moisture from certain cheeses or sap from a tree.
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Sweet
Having the taste of sugar or a substance containing or resembling sugar, as honey or saccharin.
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Sweat
To collect moisture in small drops from the air, as a cold water pipe.
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Sweet
Pleasing to the senses; agreeable
The sweet song of the lark.
A sweet face.
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Sweat
To excrete (wastes) in perspiration
Sweated out the toxins in the steam room.
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Sweat
To cause to perspire, as by drugs, heat, or strenuous exercise
Running for the train got me sweated up.
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweet
(Music) Of, relating to, or being a form of jazz characterized by adherence to a melodic line and to a time signature.
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Sweat
To interrogate (someone) under duress
Sweated the suspected spy for hours.
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Sweat
To extract (information) from someone under duress
The police sweated the information out of the suspect.
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Sweet
Used as an intensive
Took his own sweet time to finish.
Earns a sweet million per year.
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Sweat
(Metallurgy) To join (metal parts) by interposing cold solder and then heating.
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Sweat
The colorless saline moisture excreted by the sweat glands; perspiration.
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Sweet
Foods, such as candy, pastries, puddings, or preserves, that are high in sugar content.
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Sweat
(Informal) An anxious, fretful condition
Got myself in a sweat over the deadline.
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Sweet
Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
A sweet apple
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Sweet
(wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.
Sweet wines are better dessert wines.
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Sweat
Fluid that exits the body through pores in the skin usually due to physical stress and/or high temperature for the purpose of regulating body temperature and removing certain compounds from the circulation.
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Sweat
The state of one who sweats; diaphoresis.
Just thinking about the interview tomorrow puts me into a nervous sweat.
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Sweet
(mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.
Sweet gas
Sweet soil
Sweet crude oil
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Sweet
(informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.
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Sweet
Romantically fixated; enamored with; fond of.
The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweat
To cause to perspire.
His physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.
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Sweet
To the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
A sweet face
A sweet colour or complexion
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Sweat
(video games) To be extremely dedicated to winning a game; to play competitively.
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Sweat
To extract money, labour, etc. from, by exaction or oppression.
To sweat a spendthrift
To sweat labourers
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Sweet
Used as a positive response to good news or information.
They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet!
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Sweat
(intransitive) To emit moisture.
The cheese will start sweating if you don't refrigerate it.
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Sweat
(intransitive) To have drops of water form on (something's surface) due to moisture condensation.
Coasters are a good way to stop a sweating glass from damaging your table.
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Sweet
(obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.
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Sweat
To cook slowly at low heat, in shallow oil and without browning, to reduce moisture content.
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Sweat
To remove a portion of (a coin), as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.
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Sweet
Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar; saccharine; - opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges.
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Sweet
Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.
The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
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Sweet
Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet voice; a sweet singer.
To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful.
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Sweat
To excrete sensible moisture from the pores of the skin; to perspire.
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Sweet
Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.
Sweet interchangeOf hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweat
Fig.: To perspire in toil; to work hard; to drudge.
He 'd have the poets sweat.
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweet
Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically: (a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread. (b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as, sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweat
To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire; as, his physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.
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Sweet
Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.
Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?
Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working.
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Sweat
To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exude.
It made her not a drop for sweat.
With exercise she sweat ill humors out.
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Sweat
To get something advantageous, as money, property, or labor from (any one), by exaction or oppression; as, to sweat a spendthrift; to sweat laborers.
The only use of it [money] which is interdicted is to put it in circulation again after having diminished its weight by "sweating", or otherwise, because the quantity of metal contains is no longer consistent with its impression.
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Sweet
That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, the sweets of domestic life.
A little bitter mingled in our cup leaves no relish of the sweet.
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Sweat
The fluid which is excreted from the skin of an animal; the fluid secreted by the sudoriferous glands; a transparent, colorless, acid liquid with a peculiar odor, containing some fatty acids and mineral matter; perspiration. See Perspiration.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.
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Sweat
The act of sweating; or the state of one who sweats; hence, labor; toil; drudgery.
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Sweat
Moisture issuing from any substance; as, the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack.
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Sweet
English phonetician; one of the founders of modern phonetics (1845-1912)
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Sweat
Agitation resulting from active worry;
Don't get in a stew
He's in a sweat about exams
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Sweat
Condensation of moisture on a cold surface;
The cold glasses were streaked with sweat
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Sweat
Use of physical or mental energy; hard work;
He got an A for effort
They managed only with great exertion
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Sweat
Excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin;
Exercise makes one sweat
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Sweet
Having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub;
An angelic smile
A cherubic face
Looking so seraphic when he slept
A sweet disposition
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Sweat
The moisture excreted by the sweat glands of the skin.
After his run, he was covered in sweat.
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Sweet
One of the four basic taste sensations; very pleasant; like the taste of sugar or honey
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Jun 10, 2018
Sweet
Pleasing to the senses;
The sweet song of the lark
The sweet face of a child
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Sweet
Having a natural fragrance;
Odoriferous spices
The odorous air of the orchard
The perfumed air of June
Scented flowers
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Sweet
In an affectionate or loving manner (`sweet' is sometimes a poetic or informal variant of `sweetly');
Susan Hayward plays the wife sharply and sweetly
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank
Talking sweet to each other
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Sweet
Music that is smooth or soft in style or effect.
The sweet melody of the violin lulled me to sleep.
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Sweet
British term for candy or confectionery.
I bought some sweets from the store.
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Oct 19, 2023
FAQs
Can "Sweet" and "Sweat" be used figuratively?
Yes, both words have figurative meanings, like "sweet dreams" or "breaking a sweat."
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Is "Sweat" only produced during physical activity?
No, sweat can be produced from heat, stress, or nervousness as well.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
How are "Sweet" and "Sweat" primarily used in a sentence?
"Sweet" is primarily an adjective, and "Sweat" is primarily a noun.
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Oct 19, 2023
Can "Sweet" describe sounds?
Yes, a harmonious or soft sound can be described as "sweet."
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Oct 19, 2023
What does it mean when someone says "Don't sweat it"?
"Don't sweat it" means "Don't worry about it."
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Oct 19, 2023
Are there synonyms for "Sweat"?
Yes, synonyms include perspiration and perspire.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Is "Sweet" always related to taste?
No, "Sweet" can describe anything pleasant, like a sound or personality, not just taste.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Can "Sweet" be used as a noun?
Yes, especially in British English, "Sweet" can refer to candy.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Are there idioms involving the word "Sweet"?
Yes, such as "Home sweet home" or "Short but sweet."
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Oct 19, 2023
Can "Sweat" refer to hard work?
Yes, if someone says they "sweated over" something, it means they worked hard on it.
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Oct 19, 2023
How are "Sweet" and "Sweat" pronounced?
"Sweet" rhymes with "meet," and "Sweat" rhymes with "bet."
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Are there synonyms for "Sweet"?
Yes, synonyms include sugary, saccharine, and honeyed.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Can "Sweat" be used as a verb?
Yes, "to sweat" means to perspire or to worry about something.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Is "Sweat" always visible?
No, sometimes a person might sweat minimally or internally without it being noticeable.
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Oct 19, 2023
Are "Sweet" and "Sweat" homophones?
No, they have distinct pronunciations and meanings.
Tayyaba Rehman
Oct 19, 2023
Author Spotlight
Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
