Word of the Day

Saturday, March 24, 2007

dour

\DOO-uhr; DOW-uhr\ , adjective;

Harsh; stern.

Unyielding; inflexible; obstinate.

Marked by ill humor; gloomy; sullen.

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Quotes:

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

Origin:

Dour probably comes from Latin durus, "hard, stern, severe."