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PlainSpell

sour

sou·rUK /ˈsaʊ.ə/adjective, noun, verb

sour is spelled S-O-U-R: 4 letters and 2 syllables (sou·r). It appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sour means “Tasting of acidity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in sour?

Letters4: S-O-U-R
Syllables2: sou·r
In writing7.6 times per million words; the 8,542nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is sour?

Sour appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd 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 sour?

  • UK /ˈsaʊ.ə/
  • [ˈsɑːə]
  • [ˈsɑː]

Sour has 2 syllables, split sou·r in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sour.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with sour

Also written: sower.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with sour?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sour from its last stressed vowel (/aʊə/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: ours.

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 sour

  • sourer comparative
  • sourest superlative
  • sours plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • souring participle, present
  • soured participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sour mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Tasting of acidity.

    Lemons have a sour taste.

  2. 2

    Made rancid by fermentation, etc.

    Don't drink that milk; it's turned sour.

  3. 3

    Tasting or smelling rancid.

    His sour breath makes it unpleasing to talk to him.

  4. 4

    Hostile or unfriendly.

    He gave me a sour look.

  5. 5

    Excessively acidic and thus infertile. (of soil)

    sour land

  6. 6

    Containing excess sulfur. (of petroleum)

    sour gas smells like rotten eggs

  7. 7

    Unfortunate or unfavorable.

  8. 8

    Off-pitch, out of tune.

noun

  1. 1

    The sensation of a sour taste.

  2. 2

    A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.

  3. 3

    Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.

  4. 4

    A sweet/candy having a sharply sour taste.

  5. 5

    A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.

  6. 6

    The acidic solution used in souring fabric.

verb

  1. 1

    To make sour.

    Too much lemon juice will sour the recipe.

  2. 2

    To become sour.

  3. 3

    To spoil or mar; to make disenchanted.

  4. 4

    To become disenchanted.

    We broke up after our relationship soured.

  5. 5

    To make (soil) cold and unproductive.

  6. 6

    To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.

  7. 7

    To process (fabric) after bleaching, using hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid to wash out the lime.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sour in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaigre, sur (having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste), rance, tourné (made rancid by fermentation, etc), acerbe (peevish or bad-tempered)
Germansauer, herb, säuerlich (having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste), sauer vergoren, gesäuert (made rancid by fermentation, etc), Säure (the sensation of a sour taste)
Portugueseazedo (having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste), coalhado (made rancid by fermentation, etc), carrancudo (peevish or bad-tempered), azedume (the sensation of a sour taste), rançoso (tasting or smelling rancid), ácido ((of soil) excessively acidic and thus infertile)
Spanishagrio, ácido, acedo, chocoya (having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste), avinagrado, acedado (made rancid by fermentation, etc)

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 sour come from?

From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sour