scowl
verb (used without object)
to draw down or contract the brows in a sullen, displeased, or angry manner.
had been scowling
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past perfect progressiveof scowl.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For an hour before debarking he had been scowling through field glasses at U. S. warships in San Pedro Harbor.
From Time Magazine Archive
One was a pale young man who had been scowling over Browning and making frantic notes on the margin of the book.
From Mr. Punch's Railway Book by Sir John Alexander Hammerton
He had been scowling while she talked, staring into vacancy in meditation.
From Blow The Man Down A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 by Holman Day
A moment earlier she had been scowling fiercely.
From Jane Allen: Right Guard by Edith Bancroft
The clouds had been scowling throughout the twilight, as if threatening rain, which now fell in torrents—the wind, as it were, bringing the rain along with it.
From The Boy Tar by Edward Read
