sullen

[ suhl-uhn ]
See synonyms for: sullensullenness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve.

  2. persistently and silently ill-humored; morose.

  1. indicative of gloomy ill humor.

  2. gloomy or dismal, as weather or a sound.

  3. sluggish, as a stream.

  4. Obsolete. malignant, as planets or influences.

Origin of sullen

1
First recorded in 1565–75; earlier sollen, solain, from Middle English solein(e), solain “sole, solitary, sullen,” possibly from Vulgar Latin sōlānus (unattested), from Latin sōlus “alone, only, single”

synonym study For sullen

1. See cross. 1, 2. See glum.

Other words for sullen

Opposites for sullen

Other words from sullen

  • sul·len·ly, adverb
  • sul·len·ness, noun
  • un·sul·len, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sullen in a sentence

  • "I knows what you wants, an' I knows I don' know nothin' 'tall 'bout it," she objected, her sullenness a patent defiance.

    The Winning Clue | James Hay, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for sullen

sullen

/ (ˈsʌlən) /


adjective
  1. unwilling to talk or be sociable; sulky; morose

  2. sombre; gloomy: a sullen day

  1. literary sluggish; slow: a sullen stream

  2. obsolete threatening

noun
  1. (plural) archaic a sullen mood

Origin of sullen

1
C16: perhaps from Anglo-French solain (unattested), ultimately related to Latin sōlus alone

Derived forms of sullen

  • sullenly, adverb
  • sullenness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012