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- Dictionarydour/dʊə/
adjective
- 1. relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance: "a hard, dour, humourless fanatic"
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DOUR definition: 1. (usually of a person's appearance or manner) unfriendly, unhappy, and very serious: 2. (usually…. Learn more.
1. : stern, harsh. a dour expression on her face. 2. : obstinate, unyielding. an insistent hunger for learning and a dour … determination to achieve it Walter Moberly. 3. : gloomy, sullen. a dour disposition. dourly adverb. dourness noun. Synonyms. austere. fierce. flinty. forbidding. grim. gruff. intimidating. lowering. louring.
If you describe someone as dour, you mean that they are very serious and unfriendly. ...a dour, taciturn man. No wonder he looked so dour.
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.
1. Marked by sternness or harshness; forbidding: a dour, self-sacrificing life. 2. Silently ill-humored; gloomy: the proverbially dour New England Puritan. 3. Sternly obstinate; unyielding: a dour determination. [Middle English, possibly from Middle Irish dúr, probably from Latin dūrus, hard; see deru- in Indo-European roots .] dour′ly adv.
Meaning & use. Originally English regional ( northern) and Scottish. 1. ?a1425–. Of a person, a person's disposition or behaviour, etc.: characterized by severity, sternness, or grim fortitude; hardy, robust. ?a1425 (?a1350) In herte he had yitte sorou to dour Þat he might noght his broþer succour. T. Castleford, Chronicle (1996) vol. I. l. 19882.
Definition and high quality example sentences with “dour” in context from reliable sources - Ludwig is the linguistic search engine that helps you to write better in English
Dour - harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance; a dour, self-sacrificing life; a scowl; a ...
Expressing gloom or melancholy; sullenly unhappy. Synonyms. stern, harsh: forbidding, harsh, severe, stern. unyielding: obstinate, stubborn, unyielding. expressing gloom: dejected, gloomy, melancholic, sullen. Derived words & phrases. Translations. dour ( Breton) Origin & history.
adjective harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance. adjective stubbornly unyielding. Etymologies. from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. From Latin dūrus ("hard, stern"), or possibly from Middle Irish dúr. Support. Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dour .
