Wiktionary
n. (context idiomatic English) A negative aspect to something mostly positive.
Usage examples of "sour note".
She picked up her knife and went to where Eula sat with Ivar and Serkai and Jorge all around her, and the Cooper's pack stared at the Sour Note kids.
A bronze horn sounded a long, hoarse, sour note in the peasant village a few hundred yards from Fox Keep: a signal for the serfs to come to their huts from out of the fields, both for supper and to keep themselves safe from the ghosts that roamed and ravened through the night.
He was devastated and begged forgiveness, reminded the shining thing that he only wanted to serve it faithfully, but in the one piece of his secret self which remained to him, the small sour note had allowed him to think a little more clearly Was that truly his only wish—.
When she saw me peering in, she jumped a little and hit a sour note, then she gave me a big sweet smile and went on playing.
One discordant soul might not seem like much of a problem to you, but its effect upon our mission would be like that of a sour note in an otherwise perfect symphony.
The only sour note on the tour was struck by the occasional hippy who would run alongside the bus, holding up a mirror.
Just like the Oldtimers to add a sour note to what ought to be a joyous occasion!
Just like the Oldttmers to add a sour note to what ought to be a joyous occasion!
A sour note was Dara herself who, as Kindan had expected, had discovered that Tarik was not thrilled to see his privacy so eroded.
The meeting began on a sour note, because a complaint of witchcraft had been referred from a grange-court.