sour grapes

plural noun

1. pretended disdain for something one does not or cannot have:

   She said that she and her husband didn't want to join the club anyway, but it was clearly sour grapes.

sour grapes

noun

1. functioning as singular the attitude of affecting to despise something because one cannot or does not have it oneself

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour grapes¹

First recorded in 1750–60; in allusion to Aesop's fable concerning the fox who, in an effort to save face, dismissed as sour those grapes he could not reach

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour grapes¹

from a fable by Aesop

Idioms and Phrases

Disparaging what one cannot obtain, as in The losers' scorn for the award is pure sour grapes . This expression alludes to the Greek writer Aesop's famous fable about a fox that cannot reach some grapes on a high vine and announces that they are sour. In English the fable was first recorded in William Caxton's 1484 translation, “The fox said these raisins be sour.”

Example Sentences

And they either get a case of sour grapes or they get on the train.

From The Daily Beast

He attributes the moniker to sour grapes and professional jealousy.

From The Daily Beast

Sour grapes have led the once-visionary musician to become embittered.

From The Daily Beast

I reckon, I've heerd my mother read out a text, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and th' children's teeth are set on edge."

From Project Gutenberg

The sour grapes of Champagne spread dysentery in the Prussian army.

From Project Gutenberg

The vintage of 1427 had been bad, that of the following year was poor and weak—more like sour grapes than wine.

From Project Gutenberg

Our ancestors have eaten sour grapes, and their childrens' teeth are set on edge.

From Project Gutenberg

She thought of sour grapes, and of the fox who had lost his tail.

From Project Gutenberg