sour

[ souuhr, sou-er ]

adjective

, sour·er, sour·est.

1. having an acid taste, resembling that of vinegar, lemon juice, etc.; tart.

   Antonyms: sweet

2. rendered acid or affected by fermentation; fermented.
3. producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not bitter, salt, or sweet.
4. characteristic of something fermented:

   a sour smell.

5. distasteful or disagreeable; unpleasant.

   Synonyms: unsatisfactory, subpar, suboptimal, bitter

6. below standard; poor:

   It was a sour effort all around, the kind of effort that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

7. harsh in spirit or temper; acrimonious; disagreeable; peevish.

   Synonyms: severe, crabbed, petulant, cross, touchy, testy

8. Agriculture. (of soil) having excessive acidity.
9. (of gasoline or the like) contaminated by sulfur compounds.
10. Music. off-pitch; badly produced:

    a sour note.

noun

1. something that is sour.
2. any of various cocktails consisting typically of whiskey or gin with lemon or lime juice and sugar and sometimes soda water, often garnished with a slice of orange, a maraschino cherry, or both.
3. any of various beers with a particularly acidic or tart taste, made so by acid-producing bacteria and yeast in the brew:

   Sours are a good choice to go with deep-fried bar food.

4. an acid or an acidic substance used in laundering and bleaching to neutralize alkalis and to decompose residual soap or bleach.

verb (used without object)

1. to become sour, rancid, mildewed, etc.; spoil:

   Milk sours quickly in warm weather. The laundry soured before it was ironed.

2. to become unpleasant or strained; worsen; deteriorate:

   Relations between the two countries have soured.

3. to become bitter, disillusioned, or disinterested:

   I guess I soured when I learned he was married.

   My loyalty soured after his last book.

4. Agriculture. (of soil) to develop excessive acidity.

verb (used with object)

1. to make sour; cause sourness in:

   What do they use to sour the mash?

2. to cause spoilage in; rot:

   Defective cartons soured the apples.

3. to make bitter, disillusioned, or disagreeable:

   One misadventure needn't have soured him. That swindle soured a great many potential investors.

sour

¹

/ ˈsaʊə /

adjective

1. having or denoting a sharp biting taste like that of lemon juice or vinegar Compare bitter
2. made acid or bad, as in the case of milk or alcohol, by the action of microorganisms
3. having a rancid or unwholesome smell
4. (of a person's temperament) sullen, morose, or disagreeable
5. (esp of the weather or climate) harsh and unpleasant
6. disagreeable; distasteful

   a sour experience

7. (of land, etc) lacking in fertility, esp due to excessive acidity
8. (of oil, gas, or petrol) containing a relatively large amount of sulphur compounds
9. go sour or turn sour
   to become unfavourable or inharmonious

   his marriage went sour

noun

1. something sour
2. any of several iced drinks usually made with spirits, lemon juice, and ice

   a whiskey sour

3. an acid used in laundering and bleaching clothes or in curing animal skins

verb

1. to make or become sour

Sour

²

/ sʊə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of Sur

Derived Forms

• ˈsourish, adjective
• ˈsourness, noun
• ˈsourly, adverb

Other Words From

• sour·ish adjective
• sour·ly adverb
• sour·ness noun
• o·ver·sour adjective
• o·ver·sour·ly adverb
• o·ver·sour·ness noun
• un·sour adjective
• un·sour·ly adverb
• un·sour·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English adjective and noun sure, soure, Old English adjective sūr; cognate with German sauer, Dutch zuur, Old Norse sūrr

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour¹

Old English sūr; related to Old Norse sūrr, Lithuanian suras salty, Old Slavonic syrŭ wet, raw, surovu green, raw, Sanskrit surā brandy

Example Sentences

She told The Times in 2019, “We couldn’t actually get decent food because it wasn’t being served to us,” adding she had once been served “sour milk and cold coffee.”

From Los Angeles Times

The scene was so familiar: the sour scent of the scrub brush and palms, the hillside homes glowing at dusk, the old burn in my calves.

From Los Angeles Times

The scene was so familiar: the sour scent of the scrub brush and palms, the hillside homes glowing at dusk, the old burn in my calves.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump’s determination to hold the Democrats responsible for the country’s generally sour mood proved to be a winning one.

From Los Angeles Times

But after Krejcikova got the initial break midway through the first set, sixth seed Pegula's body language began to sour and she gifted her opponent the opener with a sloppy return tapped into the net from close range.

From BBC

Related Words

• embitter
• exacerbate
• spoil