How to Use dour in a Sentence

dour

adjective
  • She had a dour expression on her face.
  • For those in the crowd, the mood was dour.
    — Dan Mangan,garrett Downs,spencer Kimball,megan Sauer, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Gummer plays her as dour, stiff and rigid.
    — Lisa Depaulo, HollywoodReporter, 13 Mar. 2026
  • This is one of those songs that snaps me out of the dour nature of this work.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Everyone is so dour and gloomy in that show.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
  • That dour affair left a sour taste in the soccer world.
    — Cesar R. Torres, The Conversation, 26 May 2026
  • But there’s a hearty sense of joy running through even the most dour moments here.
    — Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
  • In the poll, views of the economy were more dour than at any point in the past year.
    — Joshua Jamerson, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2022
  • This might seem to be a dour sign for software engineers.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Students and retirees are dour.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
  • Would Brady prefer to play with better weapons for a less dour boss?
    — Adam Kilgore, courant.com, 9 Dec. 2019
  • The pope looked dour and pinched standing next to the president.
    — Mark Landler, New York Times, 28 May 2017
  • The result should put a smile on the faces of even the dourest of curmudgeons.
    — Charlie Theel, Ars Technica, 14 Dec. 2019
  • Sure, the subject matter is dark, but don’t expect a dour read.
    — Chloe Schama, Vogue, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Oof, dour end to the season, Tommy.
    — William Earl, Variety, 18 Jan. 2026
  • The two home runs sparked what had been a dour start to the season for Machado.
    — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Coleman made the long, slow trek into the locker room with a dour look on his face.
    — Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com, 31 May 2017
  • And, though much of the season is dour in tone, some of its best twists are the product of a dark wit.
    — Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
  • So chances are high that someone else has a copy and that person might know who the dour pastor is.
    — Kris Frieswick, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2022
  • But the evening was anything but dour, and most of the color over the course of the night came from the stage.
    — Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Above all, the Turning Point show was boring and dour.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2026
  • This year, the day is underscored by the dour fact that the pay gap has barely budged in two decades.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Jackson was soon carted to the locker room with a dour look on his face, and ruled out of the game.
    — cleveland, 12 Dec. 2021
  • At sunrise, Lam was questioned by a tall, dour man named Shi.
    — Alex W. Palmer, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2018
  • Tax cuts, on the other hand, were fine with all but the most dour deficit hawks—the more the merrier.
    — The Economist, 19 Apr. 2018
  • And the view through the backlight is largely obscured by dour velvet drapes.
    — John Phillips, Car and Driver, 26 Aug. 2023
  • But on Tuesday, Summers was even more dour about the pound’s prospects.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2022
  • If this is Avalanche’s Mad Max game, but less dour and self-involved?
    — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, 15 June 2018
  • After a dour look from the new teacher, Sun Juong made her way to her desk.
    — Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com, 2 June 2018
  • One, from the 18th century, takes a rather dour view of matters of the heart.
    — Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dour.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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