Meaning & use
dour
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Serious and unsmiling, often in a way that seems gloomy or unfriendly.
Grammar: Can go before a noun or after a linking verb: a dour man, he looked dour.
Patterns
- look dour
- a dour expression
The dour clerk barely looked up when I spoke.
He kept a dour expression throughout the party.
Her dour manner put off the new students.
adjectivebefore a noun
Bleak or depressing in mood or appearance.
Grammar: Applies to places, weather and moods.
Patterns
- a dour place
- a dour mood
The dour weather matched his mood.
They moved into a dour little house by the docks.
The film has a dour atmosphere.
Word forms
| comparative | dourer |
|---|---|
| superlative | dourest |
Common combinations
- a dour expression
- He wore a dour expression all day.
- a dour face
- The judge had a dour face.
- dour and silent
- The old farmer was dour and silent.
- a dour Scot
- The stereotype of the dour Scot is overdone.
- dour mood
- The long rain left everyone in a dour mood.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gloomy
- Gloomy describes sadness or darkness and can apply to rooms and weather as well as people.
- stern
- Stern stresses strictness and authority, where dour stresses grimness.
- sullen
- Sullen suggests a bad-tempered silence, usually from resentment.
- morose
- Morose is gloomy and withdrawn, with a more inward sadness.
Opposites
Word family
- dourly adverb
- in a grim, unsmiling way
- dourness noun
- the quality of being grim
Commonly confused: dour or dower?
dour vs dower
A dower is property given to a widow. It looks close to dour but is a different word.
Practice
The dour shopkeeper never smiled at his customers.
Choose one answer.
Dour means stern and unsmiling, so unfriendly and stern fits. Cheerful is the opposite, and tired and generous do not describe the manner.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dour”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.