Crossword Genius

Gloomy passion out of Arabia (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dour

'gloomy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'passion out of arabia' is the wordplay.
'passion' becomes 'ardour' (ardour is a kind of passion).
'out of' suggests deleting specific letters.
'arabia' becomes 'ar' (abbreviation in Chambers).
'ardour' with 'ar' taken out is 'DOUR'.

(Other definitions for dour that I've seen before include "Grim, uninviting" , "Determined - grim" , "Uncompromising" , "Sullen - unyielding" , "Grim and gloomy-looking" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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