dour
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.
Origin of dour
1synonym study For dour
Other words for dour
Other words from dour
- dourly, adverb
- dourness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dour in a sentence
I’ve met people who stay in town or indoors as much as they can, and they tend to get more dour as time goes on.
What You Can Learn from Living in Antarctica - Issue 92: Frontiers | Marissa Grunes | November 11, 2020 | NautilusI have met northern dourness and the inarticulate manner which is such a contrast to the gushing and noisy effusion of the south.
Observations of an Orderly | Ward MuirToo intent upon her own feelings to give heed to the dourness of the lad Peggy followed him silently as he strode from the house.
Peggy Owen at Yorktown | Lucy Foster MadisonHis unhappy daughter Mary (who built the College Chapel) hangs near him, her full dourness and wretchedness in her face.
Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely | Rev. Edward Conybeare.Theres a judgment in this; and, if theres power in the law o Scotland, Ill gar thee rue sic dourness.
The Entail | John Galt
All grim and grey, and waste, and dourness and dool; like the army as it returns frae the fecht.
The Mystery of the Sea | Bram Stoker
British Dictionary definitions for dour
/ (dʊə, ˈdaʊə) /
sullen
hard or obstinate
Origin of dour
1Derived forms of dour
- dourly, adverb
- dourness, noun
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
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