dour

[ door, douuhr, dou-er ]

/ dʊər, daʊər, ˈdaʊ ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dour ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

sullen; gloomy: The captain's dour look depressed us all.

severe; stern: His dour criticism made us regret having undertaken the job.

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

Nearby words

Origin of dour

1325–75; Middle English < Latin dūrus dure¹

SYNONYMS FOR dour

1. morose, sour, moody. See glum.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dour ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsdour·ly, adverbdour·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dour

This decline, not surprisingly, has engendered a dour mood among much of the yeomanry.
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class|Joel Kotkin|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And so the Libyan revolution was intoxicating, which is why the world watched it much more closely than the dour Syrian struggle.
It’s Not the USA that Made Libya the Disaster it is Today|Ann Marlowe|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Queen Victoria had the reputation of being a humorless, dour battleaxe, a Terminator in bombazine.
The Cult of Royal Porn|Tim Teeman|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then McQueen, who can come across as quite intense and dour, magnificently, jumped up and down.
The Changing Color of the Oscars: '12 Years A Slave' Makes History|Tim Teeman|March 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The exuberant, indefatigable Democrat from Oregon and the dour, taciturn Republican from New Hampshire made an odd couple.
The Senate’s New Taxman Won’t Be Controlled By His Own Party|Linda Killian|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wat Gordon shook his head with a certain unconvinced and dour determination.
Lochinvar|S. R. Crockett
He ransacked the train forward in vain, and returned, passing Marjorie with a shake of the head and a dour countenance.
Excuse Me!|Rupert Hughes
Dour, drug, dull—The state of the ice when the- 25 - stone cannot easily be thrown the length of the rink.
The Canadian Curler's Manual|James Bicket
The others brought forth tobacco and squatted or sat near the dour Jamaican.
Border, Breed Nor Birth|Dallas McCord Reynolds
You were always considered something like me—dark and dour when you liked, but sunshiny when you liked also.
Girls of the Forest|L. T. Meade

British Dictionary definitions for dour

dour

/ (dʊə, ˈdaʊə) /

adjective

sullen

hard or obstinate

Derived Formsdourly, adverbdourness, noun

Word Origin for dour

C14: probably from Latin dūrus hard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dour