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The meaning of DOUR is stern, harsh. How to use dour in a sentence.
DOUR definition: 1. (usually of a person's appearance or manner) unfriendly, unhappy, and very serious: 2. (usually…. Learn more.
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. Dour and endure most likely come from the Latin word durus which means "hard."
If you describe someone as dour, you mean that they are very serious and unfriendly.
What does the adjective dour mean? There are four meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective dour . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
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′ness n.
Definition of dour adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. (of a person) giving the impression of being unfriendly and severe. He was a dour middle-aged man. She was a striking figure with a long, dour face. They were barely acknowledged by a dour receptionist.