1. One of the four basic taste sensations; like the taste of vinegar or lemons
   "The sour candy made her mouth pucker"
    
2. Having a sharp biting taste
   "The sour lemon made her pucker her lips"
    
3. In an unpalatable state
   "sour milk";
   - off, turned
    
4. Smelling of fermentation or staleness
   "The milk had turned sour in the heat";
   - rancid
    
5. Showing a brooding ill humour
   "a sour temper";
   - dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sullen
    
6. Inaccurate in pitch
   "a sour note";
   - false, off-key

1. Go sour or spoil
   "The milk has soured";
   - turn, ferment, work
    
2. Make sour or more sour
   "For example, acidulate fresh cream by adding lemon juice to produce sour cream";
   - acidify, acidulate, acetify

1. The taste experience when vinegar or lemon juice is taken into the mouth
   "The lemonade had a refreshing sour";
   - sourness, tartness
    
2. A cocktail made of a liquor (especially whiskey or gin) mixed with lemon or lime juice and sugar
   "He ordered a whiskey sour at the hotel bar"

Derived forms: sourest, souring, sourer, soured, sours

See also: acerb, acerbic, acetose, acetous, acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous, astringent, dry, ill-natured, ill-smelling, inharmonious, malodorous, malodourous [Brit, Cdn, non-standard], minging [Brit, informal], niffy [Brit, informal], pongy [Brit, informal], soured, sourish, stinky [informal], subacid, tangy, tart, tasty, unharmonious, unpleasant-smelling, vinegarish, vinegary, whiffy [Brit, informal]

Type of: change state, change taste, cocktail, gustatory perception, gustatory sensation, taste, taste perception, taste sensation, turn

Antonym: sweet

Encyclopedia: Sour, Robert