sour

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US [ˈsɑːə] UK /ˈsaʊə/ See IPA manual

Freq #6511

Meanings

1

adj
Having a sharp, acidic taste, like a lemon.

Lemons have a sour taste.
2

adj
No longer fresh because it has gone bad, especially milk.

Don't drink that milk; it's turned sour.
3

adj
Unfriendly or bad-tempered.

He gave me a sour look.
4

verb
To become spoiled, or to make a relationship or situation worse.

The milk has soured, and so has their friendship.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · no longer fresh because it... off

4 verb · to become spoiled, or to... turn

More acetoseacetousacid acidulent tart

Opposites

sweet

Word family

Forms souredsourersourestsouringsourlysours

Derived forms besouroversoursorrelsour-sweetsourballsourbellysourberrysourbreadsourbushsourdoughsourensourfaced

Related forms sourness

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

sour cherry
a cherry with a sharp acidic taste, often used in cooking

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

sour grapes
disparaging something desirable after failing to obtain it

Etymology

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”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”), Polish ser (“cheese”), Czech sýr (“cheese”), Slovak syr (“cheese”), Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”), Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”), Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”).

sour Middle English sūr Old English *sūr Proto-West Germanic *sūraz Proto-Germanic *súHros Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# sour

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**IPA (US):** [ˈsɑːə]
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsaʊə/
**Frequency rank:** 6511

## Meanings
1. Having a sharp, acidic taste, like a lemon.
2. No longer fresh because it has gone bad, especially milk.
3. Unfriendly or bad-tempered.
4. To become spoiled, or to make a relationship or situation worse.

## Examples
- Lemons have a sour taste.
- Don't drink that milk; it's turned sour.
- He gave me a sour look.
- The milk has soured, and so has their friendship.

## Synonyms
- acetose
- acetous
- acid
- acidulent
- tart

## Antonyms
- sweet

## Derived Forms
- besour
- oversour
- sorrel
- sour-sweet
- sourball
- sourbelly
- sourberry
- sourbread
- sourbush
- sourdough
- souren
- sourfaced

## Related Forms
- sourness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sour
- Root: sūr
- Root: *sūr
- Root: *sūraz
- Root: *súHros

## Etymology
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”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”), Polish ser (“cheese”), Czech sýr (“cheese”), Slovak syr (“cheese”), Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”), Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”), Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”).

## AI Etymology
Sour is 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”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”), Polish ser (“cheese”), Czech sýr (“cheese”), Slovak syr (“cheese”), Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”), Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”), Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English sour, Old English sūr, Proto-West Germanic *sūr, Proto-Germanic *sūraz, Proto-Indo-European *súHros. In current use it includes senses such as Having a sharp, acidic taste, like a lemon and No longer fresh because it has gone bad, especially milk.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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