sour grapes
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sour/ˈsaʊə(r)/
▶adjective
- 1 having an acid taste like lemon or vinegar.
- 2 (of food, especially milk) having gone bad because of fermentation.
■ having a rancid smell.
- 3 showing resentment, disappointment, or anger.
- 4 (of soil) deficient in lime.
- 5 (of petroleum or natural gas) containing a high proportion of sulphur.
– phrases
go (or turn) sour become less pleasant; turn out badly.
sour grapes an attitude in which someone pretends to despise something because they cannot have it themselves. [with allusion to Aesop's fable The Fox and the Grapes.]
go (or turn) sour become less pleasant; turn out badly.
sour grapes an attitude in which someone pretends to despise something because they cannot have it themselves. [with allusion to Aesop's fable The Fox and the Grapes.]
– derivatives
sourish adjective,
sourly adverb,
sourness noun.
sourish adjective,
sourly adverb,
sourness noun.
– origin OE sūr, of Gmc origin.
'sour grapes' also found in these Oxford entries:
