dour
Americanadjective
-
sullen
-
hard or obstinate
Related Words
See glum.
Other Word Forms
- dourly adverb
- dourness noun
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
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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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.
“Mother Mary” doesn’t truly come alive unless one is willing to engage with its dense and frequently dour text, which opens with patience.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
One side says private-credit firms are facing a new dour reality, where the individual investors they courted are fleeing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Even dour Eva is a coffee addict and a heck of a karaoke singer.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
But in the U.S., a dour mood has been underscored by a couple of apparent contradictions, as Jay Hatfield, a portfolio manager at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, pointed out during a conversation with MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026
Wednesday was smiling, and Nancy was laughing delightedly, an old man’s cackle, and even the dour Czernobog seemed to be enjoying himself.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions 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.
