Word of the Day Archive
Friday August 20, 1999
dour \DOO-uhr; DOW-uhr\ , adjective:
1. Harsh; stern.
2. Unyielding; inflexible; obstinate.
3. Marked by ill humor; gloomy; sullen.
John James Ruskin's dinner table was far too lively for the dour John La Touche.
-- Tim Hilton, John Ruskin: The Later Years
Father Greeley, who had been studying Church leaders for years, said it was the first time he had ever seen the dour Cardinal Jean Villot, head of the Vatican bureaucracy, laugh.
-- Jonathan Kwitny, Man of the Century
We don't want people to come out with a dour face, he said. "It is going to be fun with a capital F."
-- Richard Moe and Carter Wilkie, Changing Places
Dour probably comes from Latin durus, "hard, stern, severe."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for dour
