dour

American  

[door, dou^uhr, dou-er] / dʊər, daʊər, ˈdaʊ ər /

adjective

1. sullen; gloomy.

   The captain's dour look depressed us all.

   Synonyms:

   moody, sour, morose

2. severe; stern.

   His dour criticism made us regret having undertaken the job.

3. Scot. (of land) barren; rocky, infertile, or otherwise difficult or impossible to cultivate.

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dour British  

/ ˈdaʊə, dʊə /

adjective

1. sullen

2. hard or obstinate

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Related Words

See glum.

Other Word Forms

• dourly adverb
• dourness noun

Etymology

Origin of dour

1325–75; Middle English, from Latin dūrus dure ¹

Example Sentences

With dour, even gloomy-looking, early 20th Century buildings surrounded by busy, drab roads and large, intimidating metal gates, it has a very discreet feel.

From BBC

I was just talking to an actor friend and we both realized that we were drawn, at nine and 10 years old, to these almost dour, misanthropic, middle-aged characters.

From The Wall Street Journal

And any hopes that a change in government will bring about a renaissance in the Venezuelan oil industry should be tempered with a dour dose of reality.

From Barron's

Wells Fargo’s economics team has listed its favorite charts of 2025, and this one may partly explain why consumer sentiment surveys remain dour even as the stock market has surged to record highs this year.

From MarketWatch

So far, the dour mood hasn’t stopped them from spending, and early read-throughs from the holiday season and retail earnings suggest demand remains resilient.

From Barron's

Related Words

• bleak
• glum
• harsh
• morose
• sullen
• surly