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Surly vs Sour - What's the difference?

surly | sour |

As adjectives the difference between surly and sour

is that surly is (obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious while sour is having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste.

As an adverb surly

is (obsolete) in an arrogant or supercilious manner.

As a noun sour is

the sensation of a sour taste.

As a verb sour is

(label) to make sour.

surly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.
  • Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
  • Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
    • The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

    Adverb

    (er)
  • (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
  • * 1623 , , Julius Caesar , I.iii,
    • Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly

    sour

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (obsolete) sowr

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
  • Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
    • (rfex)
  • Tasting or smelling rancid.
    • (rfex)
  • Peevish or bad-tempered.
  • * Shakespeare
    • He was a scholar / Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, / But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
  • (of soil) Excessively acidic and thus infertile.
  • (of petroleum) Containing excess sulfur.
    • (rfex)
  • Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  • * Shakespeare
    • sour adversity
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil Dawkes , title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.}}

    Noun

  • The sensation of a sour taste.
    • (rfex)
  • A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.
    • (rfex)
  • (label) Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.
  • A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
    • (Edmund Spenser)

    Derived terms

    * laundry sour

    Verb

  • (label) To make sour.
  • (label) To become sour.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • So the sun's heat, with different powers, / Ripens the grape, the liquor sours .
  • (label) To make disenchanted.
  • * Shakespeare
    • To sour your happiness I must report, / The queen is dead.
  • (label) To become disenchanted.
  • (label) To make (soil) cold and unproductive.
    • (Mortimer)
  • To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.

    • Anagrams

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