How to use dour in a sentence
12 example sentences · adjective
Dour means stern, harsh and forbidding. Example: “The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.”
Examples of dour by meaning
adjectiveStern, harsh and forbidding.
- 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...
- 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
More sentences with dour
- The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.From the entry austere
- Compared to their last match, which was a dour and defensive affair, this was a very open game.From the entry open
- The coach's manner was dour and unforthcoming.From the entry unforthcoming
- But Champion Data's Daniel Hoyne said last year that McGovern was ranked over Richmond's dour defender Alex Rance as his generation's best key back.2025 June 21, Brendan Foster, “Gov's ability to read the play ranks him among the best defenders of the modern era”, in WAToday, retrieved…. From the entry key back
- Both had something of the traditional Quaker character, earnest, dour, enduring, scornful of imposed orthodoxies, desirous of spiritual release through a roughcast mysticism.2014, Morris Bishop, A History of Cornell. From the entry roughcast
- A dour turning in this era of ultrasecurity has motor vehicle officials in four states banning open-faced smiles on photo identification licenses.2009 May 29, “Grimace and Bear It”, in New York Times. From the entry ultrasecurity
- Then I'll tell you that Edna, who has a wicked serve, is our team beauty, and Joy is as plain and dour as they come.1990, Linda Barnes, Coyote, p.102. From the entry Edna
- It was a place of true horror, though, because in this place the will of the High Priestess was carried out by Mabel, the dour and hulking dungeon mistress.2012, Mary Lynne Gibbs, chapter 12, in Jericho Rising (The Jericho Cycle; 1), Ferndale, Mich.: Dragon’s Roost Press, published 2016…. From the entry dungeon mistress
- While we started off the winter craving a slightly dour and earnest uniform of dark colours, sensible fabrics and long skirts, the shorty skirt signals a renewed lightness and chirpiness.1993 December 30, Kate Constable, “Fashion: Relax] It's all up to you ..”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN…. From the entry shorty
Meaning of dour
- adjective Stern, harsh and forbidding.
- adjective Unyielding and obstinate.
- adjective Expressing gloom or melancholy.
Questions about dour in a sentence
- How do you use dour in a sentence?
- Dour is used as an adjective. For example: “The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.”
- What is a short sentence with dour?
- “The coach's manner was dour and unforthcoming.”
- What does dour mean?
- Dour means stern, harsh and forbidding.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dour (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use dour in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dour. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.