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.

---

dour British  

/ ˈdaʊə, dʊə /

adjective

1. sullen

2. 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

Example Sentences

As they fell to a dour defeat in Braga, they completed the unholy trinity of scoring an own goal, missing a penalty and receiving a red card.

From BBC

CEO Jamie Dimon’s assessment of business and economic conditions, a typically dour exercise in detailing looming risks to the country’s prospects, was, for him, surprisingly sunny.

From Barron's

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

Related Words

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