dour
/ˈdʊɹ/adjective, noun
dour is spelled D-O-U-R: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dour vs dower” about 10 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, dour means “Stern, harsh and forbidding” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dour?
| Letters | 4: D-O-U-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dour?
Dour appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dour?
- UK /ˈdʊə/
- UK /ˈdaʊə/
- US /ˈdʊɹ/
Dour has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dour.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with dour
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with dour?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dour from its last stressed vowel (/ʊɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: doru.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dour
- dourer comparative
- more dour comparative
- dourest superlative
- most dour superlative
- dours plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dour mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Stern, harsh and forbidding.
- 2
Unyielding and obstinate.
- 3
Expressing gloom or melancholy.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of daur.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dour in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sévère, austère, dur, rigoriste, rigoureux , rigide |
| German | mürrisch, rau, verdrießlich, griesgrämig, unwirsch, abweisend |
| Portuguese | duro, rígido |
| Spanish | severo, austero, duro, rigorista, riguroso , rígido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dour come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).