Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a grumpy person.

1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 62: sour-ball, n. A chronic grumbler.
1918		N.Y. Tribune 19 May 8/5: A ‘dynamiter’ in engineer parlance, is the nth degree of knocker, crabber, kicker, sourball.
1933		G. Milburn No More Trumpets 45: There’s not a knocker nor a sourbelly among them.
1936		(con. 1830s–60s) ‘Miles Franklin’ All That Swagger 133: I like Ned Angus. He’s none of your sour-bellies – always a fine laugh out of him.
c.1940		‘Joe E. Brown No. 8’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 106: If that old sauer [sic] ball could only see me now he’d throw a fit.
1957		(con. 1943) A. Myrer Big War 225: Don’t start turning into a lousy sourball like Fellows.
1969		L. Hadow Full Cycle 140: Sour-belly’s been hittin’ the grog.

2. ill temper.

1909

W. Irwin Confessions of a Con Man 181: Something that happened brought on an attack of sourball. Such things are rare with me; I have a pretty happy-go-lucky nature.