Meaning – a situation or piece of news that is unpleasant or difficult to accept. This idiom is often shortened to ‘ a bitter pill’.
In Context – The news that the company was bankrupt was a bitter pill to swallow.
Different Forms of the Idiom – hard or tough (pill) to swallow / take / digest
Idioms with a similar or synonymous meaning – a hard cross to bear
QUOTES WITH ‘A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW’
“During that long terrible ride to Munich, I finally swallowed the bitter pill of my lover’s rejection and poisoned myself with it.”
Edith Hahn Beer, The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
“If I could, I’d take her pain and make it my own. I’d swallow it like a bitter pill and live with the consequences.”
― T.J. Forrester, Miracles, Inc.