as in gruff
harsh and threatening in manner or appearance
a dour prison guard who didn't look like he'd be very understanding
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dour
This might seem to be a dour sign for software engineers.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Middle income wage earners have recently been expressing dour sentiment that low-income earners have long been feeling.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
Solskjaer brought the feel-good factor back to Old Trafford after the dour final months of Mourinho.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
Marysol and Alexia take Julia, Lisa, and an unusually dour Adriana, who is moping about her birthday and how society discards women of a certain age.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dour
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Middle income wage earners have recently been expressing dour sentiment that low-income earners have long been feeling.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
Solskjaer brought the feel-good factor back to Old Trafford after the dour final months of Mourinho.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
Marysol and Alexia take Julia, Lisa, and an unusually dour Adriana, who is moping about her birthday and how society discards women of a certain age.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dour
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dour
Adjective
-
This pays off to some extent because Day-Lewis is such a mesmerizing presence, Ray’s gruff manner and terse communications hinting at dark mysteries to be revealed.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Panday plays a convincingly gruff tortured artist alongside Padda’s struggling ingenue, and most of the screen time is devoted to their pairing instead of introducing tertiary excess.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
At the core of the GOP’s shutdown argument is painting a grim picture of any non-citizen receiving any government benefit.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
2 Oct. 2025
-
In her usual soft-spoken British accent, she was known for balancing the grim realities of the climate crisis with a sincere message of hope for the future.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
TelevisaUnivsion issued a stern statement of displeasure at the situation.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Oct. 2025
-
In a series of rulings on motions brought by Combs after his conviction, Judge Subramanian has been stern.—
Jodi Guglielmi,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As Auberge continues expanding into urban markets and deepening its European presence, the challenge will be maintaining that fierce independence at scale.—
Ritu Upadhyay,
Footwear News,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Rescuers are struggling to reach at least 200 hikers trapped in a Mount Everest valley by an unexpectedly fierce weekend snowstorm that pounded the mountain with snow and heavy rain, according to Chinese state media CCTV.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The volume opens with a photo of TCU’s Land Acknowledgment monument, a rugged, granite boulder with a circular bronze plaque.—
Hollace Ava Weiner,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Oct. 2025
-
There was a lull from mid-March through the end of the regular season — the team, at least at the time, pointed to a rugged schedule with trips all over the country sandwiched around brief stops at home — but when the playoffs began, well, the Cavs had the best series, statistically, in history.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
While there is still a chance that Sanders and Colorado can turn things around, the rest of the season is looking bleak.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
-
From a bleak job hunt upon her arrival in 2016 to undergoing treatment for her second bout with breast cancer during the uncertainty and fear of COVID, Davis recalls her journey through raw vulnerability and splashes of humor.—
Essence,
Essence,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Being less direct and formal can help prevent your kid putting a wall up — as can chatting during car rides since not being face-to-face can feel less intimidating for them.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
26 Sep. 2025
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The San Francisco 49ers began the year with one of the more intimidating defensive fronts in the NFL.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Tampa is heading into a hostile environment against a feisty Seattle Seahawks team that matches them with a 3-1 record.—
Josh Buckhalter,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
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Republicans, traditionally seen as more hostile to government, are often viewed as the shutdown aggressors.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dour.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dour. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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