dour

[ door, douuhr, dou-er ]

/ dʊər, daʊər, ˈdaʊ ər /

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See synonyms for: dour / dourness 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR dour

1 morose, sour, moody.

See synonyms for dour on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of dour

1325–75; Middle English, from Latin dūrus dure¹

synonym study for dour

1. See glum.

OTHER WORDS FROM dour

dourly, adverbdourness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dour in a sentence

Republicans are already dourly pointing out that Staten Island is the only area of the city that routinely votes for the GOP.
Staten Island v. New York City Marathon|Megan McArdle|November 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The conference room on the third floor of the New York Helmsley hotel is rather dourly decorated in a palette of brown and beige.
Camp Fashion Design Draws Budding Designers To New York|Robin Givhan|July 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Fats watched him dourly, then swung on his heel, just as a shrill, strangled cry went up from someone in the crowd.
Police Your Planet|Lester del Rey
MacGregor looked at him dourly, disgust and anger on his big red face.
The Snow-Burner|Henry Oyen

M'Iver took on a set stern jaw, and looked his chief very dourly in the face.
John Splendid|Neil Munro
Foe got up, smiling dourly, knocked out his pipe, and chose a fresh one from the mantelpiece.
Foe-Farrell|Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
The others came in, Howell dourly and Graves wiping his moustache.
The Machine That Saved The World|William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for dour

dour

/ (dʊə, ˈdaʊə) /

adjective

sullen

hard or obstinate

Derived forms of dour

dourly, 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

dour

OTHER WORDS FOR dour

Origin of dour

synonym study for dour

OTHER WORDS FROM dour

Words related to dour

How to use dour in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dour

Derived forms of dour

Word Origin for dour