sour

/ˈsaʊər/

/saʊə/

Other forms: soured; souring; sours; sourest; sourer

If something is sour, it has a tangy or sharp flavor, like a lemon. Your brother may love the taste of limes, while they're way too sour for you.

Sometimes this adjective is used to describe a fermented odor (the way milk smells when it goes bad), or a wrong note in music, or even a terrible mood: "Mom was acting so sour that I didn't even ask her if we could have pizza for dinner." Sour comes from the Old English sur, "sour, tart, or fermented."

Definitions of sour

1. adjective

   one of the four basic taste sensations; like the taste of vinegar or lemons
   synonyms:

   tasty

   pleasing to the sense of taste
2. adjective

   having a sharp biting taste
   synonyms:

   dry

   (of liquor) having a low residual sugar content because of decomposition of sugar during fermentation

   acerb, acerbic, astringent

   sour or bitter in taste

   acetose, acetous, vinegarish, vinegary

   tasting or smelling like vinegar

   acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous

   being sour to the taste

   lemonlike, lemony, sourish, tangy, tart

   tasting sour like a lemon

   subacid

   slightly sour to the taste

   soured

   having turned bad

   tasty

   pleasing to the sense of taste

   antonyms:

   sweet

   having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar

   sugary

   containing sugar

   sweet

   (used of wines) having a high residual sugar content

   cloying, saccharine, syrupy, treacly

   overly sweet

   sweetish

   somewhat sweet

   tasty

   pleasing to the sense of taste
3. noun

   the property of being acidic
   synonyms: acidity, sourness

   types:

   acerbity, tartness

   a sharp sour taste

   vinegariness, vinegarishness

   a sourness resembling that of vinegar

   type of:

   taste property

   a property appreciated via the sense of taste
4. noun

   the taste experience when vinegar or lemon juice is taken into the mouth
   synonyms: sourness, tartness

   types:

   acidity, acidulousness

   the taste experience when something acidic is taken into the mouth

   type of:

   gustatory perception, gustatory sensation, taste, taste perception, taste sensation

   the sensation that results when taste buds in the tongue and throat convey information about the chemical composition of a soluble stimulus
5. noun

   a cocktail made of a liquor (especially whiskey or gin) mixed with lemon or lime juice and sugar
   types:

   whiskey sour, whisky sour

   a sour made with whiskey

   type of:

   cocktail

   a short mixed drink
6. verb

   make sour or more sour
   synonyms: acetify, acidify, acidulate

   antonyms:

   sweeten

   make sweeter in taste

   type of:

   change taste

   alter the flavor of
7. adjective

   in an unpalatable state
   “sour milk”

   synonyms: off, turned

   soured

   having turned bad
8. adjective

   smelling of fermentation or staleness
   synonyms: rancid

   ill-smelling, malodorous, malodourous, stinky, unpleasant-smelling

   having an unpleasant smell
9. verb

   go sour or spoil
   “The milk has soured”

   synonyms: ferment, turn, work

   ferment, work

   cause to undergo fermentation

   type of:

   change state, turn

   undergo a transformation or a change of position or action
10. adjective

    inaccurate in pitch
    synonyms: false, off-key

    inharmonious, unharmonious

    not in harmony
11. adjective

    showing a brooding ill humor
    “a sour temper”

    synonyms: dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sullen

    ill-natured

    having an irritable and unpleasant disposition