dour
Americanadjective
-
sullen
-
hard or obstinate
Synonym Usage
See glum.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dour
1325–75; Middle English, from Latin dūrus dure 1
Explanation
Dour describes something sullen, gloomy, or persistent. You might look dour on your way to picking up your last check from the job you just got fired from, and people should get out of your way. Dour and endure most likely come from the Latin word durus which means "hard." If something is hard to endure for a long enough time, it can make even the most happy-go-lucky person dour. Dour sounds like sour (or closer to "do-er"). It's a tomato/tamahto word, but either way — if you're in a sour mood, you have no sense of humor, and you're dour.
Vocabulary lists containing dour
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When the sentiment was most dour Thursday—with tremors extending across chip makers and other firms riding the AI boom—Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang spoke up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
And yet, the film fails to utilize either to its advantage, wasting great talent and a halfway-decent premise on mind-numbing dialogue, repetitive plotting and dour lighting.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
"The general population quite like the fact that there are ridiculous people on stage" in what is normally a dour political event, party member and candidate Nick The Flying Brick told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
She’s a little rain cloud of a person, dour and humorless, though perhaps rightly offended by being passed over.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Zooey turned and looked at her, and—unpredictable young man—made a very dour face, as though he had suddenly eschewed any and all forms of levity.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
