sour
pronunciation
How to pronounce sour in British English:
UK [ˈsaʊə(r)]
How to pronounce sour in American English:
US [ˈsaʊər]
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- Noun:
- a cocktail made of a liquor (especially whiskey or gin) mixed with lemon or lime juice and sugar
- the taste experience when vinegar or lemon juice is taken into the mouth
- the property of being acidic
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- Verb:
- go sour or spoil
- make sour or more sour
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- Adjective:
- smelling of fermentation or staleness
- having a sharp biting taste
- one of the four basic taste sensations; like the taste of vinegar or lemons
- in an unpalatable state
- inaccurate in pitch
- showing a brooding ill humor
Word Origin
- sour
- sour: [OE] Sour is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German sauer, Dutch zuur, and Swedish and Danish sur. Their common ancestor was prehistoric Germanic *sūraz, which was related to Lithuanian sūrus ‘salty’ and Old Church Slavonic syru ‘damp, raw’. Sorrel [14] is etymologically the ‘sour’ plant: its Old French source sorele came ultimately from Germanic *sūraz.=> sorrel
- sour (adj.)
- Old English sur "sour, tart, acid, fermented," from Proto-Germanic *sura- "sour" (cognates: Old Norse surr, Middle Dutch suur, Dutch zuur, Old High German sur, German Sauer), from PIE root *suro- "sour, salty, bitter" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic syru, Russian syroi "moist, raw;" Lithuanian suras "salty," suris "cheese"). Meaning "having a peevish disposition" is from early 13c. Sense in whisky sour (1885) is "with lemon added" (1862). Sour cream is attested from 1855. French sur "sour, tart" (12c.) is a Germanic loan-word.
- sour (v.)
- c. 1300, from sour (adj.). Compare Old High German suren, German säuern. Related: Soured; souring.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. Cornel is sour , but tasty and healthy berry .
- 2. Gives coffee its slightly sour flavor .
- 3. Reach out to clients in private if you feel things could turn sour
- 4. His habitually sour expression changed .
- 5. Fiona couldn 't hide the sour disappointment in her face , but she had staked too much , too noisily , on her desperate need for the pub to back down now .