Skip to content
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

sour

/ˈsaʊ.ɚ/

Press play to hear how to pronounce sour.

American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
Watch on YouTube ↗

What does sour mean?

adjective

  1. Tasting of acidity.
  2. Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
  3. Tasting or smelling rancid.
More meanings (18)

adjective

  1. Hostile or unfriendly.
  2. Excessively acidic and thus infertile. (of soil)
  3. Containing excess sulfur. (of petroleum)
  4. Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  5. Off-pitch, out of tune.

noun

  1. The sensation of a sour taste.
  2. A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.
  3. Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.
  4. A sweet/candy having a sharply sour taste.
  5. A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
  6. The acidic solution used in souring fabric.

verb

  1. To make sour.
  2. To become sour.
  3. To spoil or mar; to make disenchanted.
  4. To become disenchanted.
  5. To make (soil) cold and unproductive.
  6. To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.
  7. To process (fabric) after bleaching, using hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid to wash out the lime.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈsaʊ.ɚ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

It is a low-ceiled room, dingy with dirt, dim with the smoke, nauseating with the fumes of sour beer and vile liquor.
William BoothIn Darkest England, and the Way OutProject Gutenberg ebook #475
Would you advise me to plant the "sour stock" as it comes from the nursery and have it budded or crown-budded later?
Edward J. (Edward James) WicksonOne Thousand Questions in California Agriculture AnsweredProject Gutenberg ebook #5152
More book examples (2)
A sour wine, moreover, or a souring, for its influence on the mood of those who drank it was to make them gloomy.
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesProject Gutenberg ebook #98
The milk was good for Pavel, who was often sick, and he could make butter by beating sour cream with a wooden spoon.
Willa CatherMy ÁntoniaProject Gutenberg ebook #242