sour grapes

plural noun

1. pretended disdain for something one does not or cannot have:

   She said that she and her husband didn't want to join the club anyway, but it was clearly sour grapes.

sour grapes

noun

1. functioning as singular the attitude of affecting to despise something because one cannot or does not have it oneself

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour grapes¹

First recorded in 1750–60; in allusion to Aesop's fable concerning the fox who, in an effort to save face, dismissed as sour those grapes he could not reach

Word History and Origins

Origin of sour grapes¹

from a fable by Aesop

Idioms and Phrases

Disparaging what one cannot obtain, as in The losers' scorn for the award is pure sour grapes . This expression alludes to the Greek writer Aesop's famous fable about a fox that cannot reach some grapes on a high vine and announces that they are sour. In English the fable was first recorded in William Caxton's 1484 translation, “The fox said these raisins be sour.”

Example Sentences

Vance told Tapper on Sunday that the sour grapes between Trump and figures like former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley come down to Donald Trump's supposed commitment to keeping out of foreign entanglements.

From Salon

Lutnick claims that any complaints are all sour grapes from people associated with Project 2025 who have apparently been excommunicated from Trump's inner circle for making the former president look bad.

From Salon

Those may sound like sour grapes from a disgruntled golf course owner, but if Trump becomes president they would be premises of his administration’s energy policy.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s starting to feel like Russia could win the gold... for sour grapes.

From BBC

Their rage might come off as historical sour grapes, but the Mendez et al fiasco touches on an important point.

From Los Angeles Times