pill to swallow
Medicine you ingest
A pill to swallow is something difficult to accept, usually unwelcome news or an uncomfortable truth.
The phrase appears most often as a hard pill to swallow or a bitter pill to swallow, evoking medicine that's unpleasant but necessary: Losing to our rivals was a bitter pill to swallow.
Occasionally shortened to a tough pill.
- difficultyState of being hard
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- ordealDifficult, painful experience
- tabletFlat portable computing device
- challengeTest of ability
harsh reality · wake up call · bitter truth · bitter · metaphor · realization · hard lesson · chalky · medicine · truth · dry · unpalatable · comeuppance · acceptance · taste · gag · cure · capsule
pill to swallowinjection
Syringe-delivered dose
suppository · transdermal patch · inhaler · nasal spray · eye drops
pill to swallowpleasant surprise
Unanticipated positive occurrence
blessing · good news · relief · comfort · silver lining
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