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sour

Syllabification: (sour)
Pronunciation: /ˈsou(ə)r/

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Definition of sour

adjective

  • 1having an acid taste like lemon or vinegar:she sampled the wine and found it was sour
  • (of food, especially milk) spoiled because of fermentation.
  • having a rancid smell:her breath was always sour
  • 2feeling or expressing resentment, disappointment, or anger:she was quite a different woman from the sour, bored creature I had known
  • 3(of soil) deficient in lime and usually dank.
  • 4(of petroleum or natural gas) containing a relatively high sulfur content.

noun

[with modifier]
  • a drink made by mixing an alcoholic beverage with lemon juice or lime juice:a rum sour

verb

  • make or become sour: [with object]:water soured with tamarind (as adjective soured)soured cream [no object]:a bowl of milk was souring in the sun
  • make or become unpleasant, acrimonious, or difficult: [with object]:a dispute soured relations between the two countries for over a year [no object]:many friendships have soured over borrowed money

Phrases

go (or turn) sour

become less pleasant or attractive; turn out badly:the case concerns a property deal that turned sour

sour grapes

used to refer to an attitude in which someone adopts a negative attitude to something because they cannot have it themselves:government officials dismissed many of the complaints as sour grapes
[with allusion to Aesop's fable The Fox and the Grapes]

Derivatives

sourish

adjective

sourly

adverb

sourness

noun

Origin:

Old English sūr, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zuur and German sauer

sour in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sour in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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