Saccharin or saccharine?
saccharin is a noun meaning “A white, crystalline powder, C₇H₅NO₃S, used as an artificial sweetener in food…”; saccharine is an adjective meaning “Excessively sweet in action or disposition, especially if romantic or…”. Use saccharin as a noun and saccharine as an adjective (saccharine is also a noun: “Something which is saccharine or sweet; sugar”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) saccharine is about 2.8 times as common as saccharin.
What is the difference between saccharin and saccharine?
| saccharin | saccharine | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | adjective, noun |
| Meaning | A white, crystalline powder, C₇H₅NO₃S, used as an artificial sweetener in food products | Resembling granulated sugar; saccharoid Sentimentalism Of or relating to saccharin (“a white, crystalline powder, C₇H₅NO₃S, used as an artificial sweetener in food products”) |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | saccharins | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsækəɹɪn/ | /ˈsækəɹaɪn/ /-ɹɪn/ /-ɹiːn/ |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: saccharin and saccharine in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of saccharin and saccharine
saccharin
- 1
A white, crystalline powder, C₇H₅NO₃S, used as an artificial sweetener in food products
saccharine
- 1
datedOf or relating to sugar; sugary
- 2
datedSomething which is saccharine or sweet; sugar
- 3
Of or relating to saccharin (“a white, crystalline powder, C₇H₅NO₃S, used as an artificial sweetener in food products”)
- 4
Alternative spelling of saccharin
- 5
datedContaining a large or excessive amount of sugar
- 6
Sentimentalism
- 7
derogatoryExcessively sweet in action or disposition, especially if romantic or sentimental to the point of ridiculousness; sickly sweet, syrupy
- 8
Resembling granulated sugar; saccharoid
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, saccharin or saccharine?
saccharin appears about once in every 9 million words; saccharine about once in every 3 million words.
saccharin about once in every 9 million wordssaccharine about once in every 3 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).