Dictionary

dour en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈdaʊɚ/ (General-American)
• /ˈdaʊ.ɚ/ (General-American)
• /ˈdur/ (Scotland)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈdʊə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈdʊɹ/ (General-American)
• /ˈdaʊə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots dour, possibly from Latin dūrus (“hard, stern”), via Middle Irish dúr. Compare French dur, Catalan dur, Italian duro, Portuguese duro, Romanian dur, Spanish duro. Doublet of dure.

Meanings

1. Stern, harsh and forbidding.
   • Tuchel arrived in Belgrade insisting England were ready to improve and show their quality after the dour victories that have characterised their World Cup qualification campaign. 2025 September 9, Phil McNulty, “Serbia 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
   • The principal reason is that, in competition with modern road vehicles running over motorways, B.R. has a dour struggle to match the performance of its rivals cost-wise. 1961 October, “Editorial: The importance of the "Roadrailer"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 577:
   • Hayek had contributed the foreword, in which he declared that “he got so fascinated” by the book—high praise from the dour Viennese sage—that he read it from start to finish in one sitting. 2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 4, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:
   • I was reminded of the dour priests and salesmen of the nineteenth century who believed that the plebs wouldn’t be able to handle getting the vote, or a decent wage, or, least of all, leisure, and who backed the seventy-hour workweek as an efficacious instrument in the fight against liquor. 2017, chapter 6, in Elizabeth Manton, transl., Utopia for Realists, Kindle edition, Bloomsbury Publishing, translation of Gratis geld voor iedereen by Rutger Bregman, page 149:
2. Unyielding and obstinate.
3. Expressing gloom or melancholy.

Forms

Deriveds

dourness · dourly

Synonyms

stubborn · severe · sullen · harsh · stern · melancholic · gloomy · dejected · forbidding

Translations (92)

eo aǔstera (stern, harsh and forbidding) · mi pōkēkē (expressing gloom or melancholy) · es duro (stern, harsh and forbidding) · ru стро́гий (stern, harsh and forbidding) · ru суро́вый (stern, harsh and forbidding) · nl afschrikwekkend (stern, harsh and forbidding) · de trist (expressing gloom or melancholy) · cs zasmušilý (expressing gloom or melancholy) · cs přísný (stern, harsh and forbidding) · de griesgrämig (stern, harsh and forbidding) · eo severa (stern, harsh and forbidding) · de mürrisch (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr dur (stern, harsh and forbidding) · pl srogi (stern, harsh and forbidding) · gl rigoroso (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr austère (stern, harsh and forbidding) · nl onverbiddelijk (unyielding and obstinate) · fr rigoureux (stern, harsh and forbidding) · uk похмурий (expressing gloom or melancholy) · it austero (stern, harsh and forbidding) · es obstinado (unyielding and obstinate) · it rigoroso (stern, harsh and forbidding) · uk понурий (expressing gloom or melancholy) · fr morose (expressing gloom or melancholy) · pl ponury (expressing gloom or melancholy) · ru непрекло́нный (unyielding and obstinate) · bg мрачен (expressing gloom or melancholy) · es lúgubre (expressing gloom or melancholy) · de störrisch (unyielding and obstinate) · de unwirsch (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr sévère (stern, harsh and forbidding) · de verdrießlich (stern, harsh and forbidding) · pl posępny (expressing gloom or melancholy) · es inflexible (unyielding and obstinate) · bg суров (stern, harsh and forbidding) · es terco (unyielding and obstinate) · it cupo (expressing gloom or melancholy) · pl surowy (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fi itsepäinen (unyielding and obstinate) · mi taimaha (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr lugubre (expressing gloom or melancholy) · pl nieustępliwy (unyielding and obstinate) · fr inflexible (unyielding and obstinate) · mi whakarikiriki (expressing gloom or melancholy) · fr obstiné (unyielding and obstinate) · ru мра́чный (expressing gloom or melancholy) · uk суворий (stern, harsh and forbidding) · it triste (expressing gloom or melancholy) · bg намусен (expressing gloom or melancholy) · it arcigno (stern, harsh and forbidding) · it inflessibile (unyielding and obstinate) · nl stuurs (expressing gloom or melancholy) · it ostinato (unyielding and obstinate) · it lugubre (expressing gloom or melancholy) · cs zarputilý (unyielding and obstinate) · es austero (stern, harsh and forbidding) · es taciturno (expressing gloom or melancholy) · ca depriment (expressing gloom or melancholy) · gl lúgubre (expressing gloom or melancholy) · it rigido (unyielding and obstinate) · de rau (stern, harsh and forbidding) · pt rígido (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr mélancolique (expressing gloom or melancholy) · de starrköpfig (unyielding and obstinate) · es rígido (unyielding and obstinate) · it severo (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr têtu (unyielding and obstinate) · es rigorista (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr entêté (unyielding and obstinate) · de halsstarrig (unyielding and obstinate) · fi alakuloinen (expressing gloom or melancholy) · fr rigide (unyielding and obstinate) · de abweisend (stern, harsh and forbidding) · pt duro (stern, harsh and forbidding) · gl rigorista (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr rigoriste (stern, harsh and forbidding) · it indeflessibile (unyielding and obstinate) · de dumpf (expressing gloom or melancholy) · es severo (stern, harsh and forbidding) · pl uparty (unyielding and obstinate) · es melancólico (expressing gloom or melancholy) · de unnachgiebig (unyielding and obstinate) · mi tukumaru (expressing gloom or melancholy) · gl severo (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fi tyly (stern, harsh and forbidding) · de düster (expressing gloom or melancholy) · es despiadado (unyielding and obstinate) · es riguroso (stern, harsh and forbidding) · uk строгий (stern, harsh and forbidding) · fr taciturne (expressing gloom or melancholy) · bg строг (stern, harsh and forbidding) · it tetro (expressing gloom or melancholy)

dour en · NOUN · etymology 2

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of daur.
   alt of daur
   • The detachment that went out the day before yesterday on a dour have not returned: the party consisted of 200 Highlanders and 100 Sikhs, also twenty horsemen. 1857, Allen's Indian Mail and Register of Intelligence, page 545:

Forms