sour grapes

noun

disparagement of something that is unattainable

• Hypernyms: ↑disparagement, ↑depreciation, ↑derogation

* * *

noun plural

Etymology: so called from the fable ascribed to Aesop, legendary 6th century B.C. Greek author of fables, about the fox that tried to get at some grapes but finding that they were beyond his reach disparaged them by saying that they appeared to be sour

: disparagement of something that has proven unattainable

his snide remarks about people who make the honor roll are nothing but sour grapes

* * *

pretended disdain for something one does not or cannot have: She said that she and her husband didn't want to join the club anyway, but it was clearly sour grapes.

[1750-60; in allusion to Aesop's fable concerning the fox who, in an effort to save face, dismissed as sour those grapes he could not reach]

* * *

sour grapes

Saying or pretending that something is not worth having because one cannot have it oneself (from Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes)

• • •

Main Entry: ↑grape

————————

sour grapes

See under ↑grape¹

• • •

Main Entry: ↑sour

* * *

sour grapes UK US noun [uncountable]

criticism of something that you make because you are annoyed that you cannot have it

Such complaints are nothing more than sour grapes.

Thesaurus: criticism and disapproval_synonym

* * *

sour grapes,

a thing that a person pretends to dislike because he cannot have it: »

Pearson is also aware…that too vigorous an attack on the…administration might sound like sour grapes (Maclean's).

* * *

an attitude in which someone disparages or affects to despise something because they cannot have it themselves

government officials dismissed many of the complaints as sour grapes

Origin:

with allusion to Aesop's fable The Fox and the Grapes

* * *

noun [plural]

informal : unfair criticism that comes from someone who is disappointed about not getting something

His remarks are nothing but sour grapes.

* * *

sour ˈgrapes idiom

(saying) used to show that you think sb is jealous and is pretending that sth is not important

•

He said he didn't want the job anyway, but that's just sour grapes.

Main entry: ↑sour_idiom