dour
/ˈdʊə/
"dour" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dour” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,880 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #49,880
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Stern, harsh and forbidding.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dour |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdʊə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #49,880 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dour” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dour is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdʊə/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,880 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for dour, with forms such as "ddour", "doru", and "dourr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Dr", "due", "duo", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Scots dour, possibly from Latin dūrus (“hard, stern”), via Middle Irish dúr. Compare French dur, Catalan dur, Italian duro, Portuguese duro, Romanian dur, Spanish duro. Doublet of dure. The correct English form is dour, spelled D-O-U-R.
Definition
- 1Stern, harsh and forbidding.
- 2Unyielding and obstinate.
- 3Expressing gloom or melancholy.
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots dour, possibly from Latin dūrus (“hard, stern”), via Middle Irish dúr. Compare French dur, Catalan dur, Italian duro, Portuguese duro, Romanian dur, Spanish duro. Doublet of dure.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddour,doru,dourr,duor,odur
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dour - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "dour"?
What does "dour" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “dour”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdʊə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Dr” - see the side-by-side comparison. dour vs Dr
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.