Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or quality of being dour; obstinacy; stubbornness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The characteristic of being
dour ;gloominess ;sternness .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Though he has some of the dour qualities of a stereotypical literary figure of that occupation, such dourness is shot through and almost eradicated by a number of complexities and redemptive qualities.
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And pretty much in sync with why I think Gordon Brown's intensity and dourness is less of a negative and more of a positive in real terms.
Nice guys finish last Jeff 2007
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Though he has some of the dour qualities of a stereotypical literary figure of that occupation, such dourness is shot through and almost eradicated by a number of complexities and redemptive qualities.
Archive 2007-04-01 2007
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The beauty of the scene, the pleasant talk, the daffodils on the green isle among the Celtic graves, compensate for a certain "dourness" among the fishes of Loch Awe.
Angling Sketches Andrew Lang 1878
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The speeches over bargaining recommences moistened by toddy, which fluid appears to exercise an appreciable softening influence on the "dourness" of the market.
Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places Archibald Forbes 1869
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Business is lively here, the chronic "dourness" of a market being discounted by the scarcity of horseflesh.
Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places Archibald Forbes 1869
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It embraces a politics of shame and dourness, hoping not to offend, rather than pushing back.
Benjamin Shepard: In Defense of the Silly: From Direct Action to the Pies of March Benjamin Shepard 2011
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It embraces a politics of shame and dourness, hoping not to offend, rather than pushing back.
Benjamin Shepard: In Defense of the Silly: From Direct Action to the Pies of March Benjamin Shepard 2011
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A peculiarly Victorian dourness aside, the lady has a point: when one stops to consider the ingredients that go into these confections – butter, sugar, eggs, exotic fruits, spices and, of course, booze – they start to seem less the kind of thing one might expect to find in a Girl Guide's picnic baskets, and more a riot of devil-may-care festive decadence.
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It embraces a politics of shame and dourness, hoping not to offend, rather than pushing back.
Benjamin Shepard: In Defense of the Silly: From Direct Action to the Pies of March Benjamin Shepard 2011
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