sulk
Americanverb (used without object)
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sulks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sulked,
past participle, past
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sulking
present participle
noun
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a state or fit of sulking.
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sulks, ill-humor shown by sulking.
to be in the sulks.
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Also sulker. a person who sulks.
verb
noun
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(often plural) a state or mood of feeling resentful or sullen
he's in a sulk because he lost the game
he's got the sulks
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Also: sulker. a person who sulks
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sulksimple
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sulkssimple
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have sulkedperfect
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has sulkedperfect
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am sulkingprogressive
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are sulkingprogressive
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is sulkingprogressive
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have been sulkingperfect progressive
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has been sulkingperfect progressive
Past
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sulkedsimple
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had sulkedperfect
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was sulkingprogressive
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were sulkingprogressive
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had been sulkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sulk
First recorded in 1775–85; back formation from sulky
Explanation
When you are displeased by something and you let your gloomy mood show, you're sulking. Do you want to bake another cake, or are you going to sulk all day about the one you dropped? When you say someone sulks, the tone of the word suggests the person is overdoing it. You wouldn't accuse a widow of sulking at her husband's funeral, because she has a good reason to be sad and gloomy. Instead of sulking because you messed up your tuba solo during the concert, why not put your energy into practice? Or switch to violin.
Vocabulary lists containing sulk
Where the Red Fern Grows
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My Brother Sam is Dead
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Out of the Dust
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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.
See Examples For:
Kane said Bayern had "no time to sulk" and "would not let the defeat define our season".
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
It comes from the Welsh pwdu, meaning to sulk, which itself originated with the English word pout, combined with the Welsh verb-forming suffix -u.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
Nine months later, after the New Year's Eve party where Joel messes up again by trying to defend Ellie, he excuses himself to sulk with Ellie’s guitar on his porch.
From Salon ● May 19, 2025
Some nights he would sulk if he didn’t get his touches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
I might have preferred that, Pet replied, a trace of a sulk in its voice.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
"All players want to play, it's normal, it's what makes us happy. I have team-mates who want to play too, but no one sulks," Griezmann told reporters.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
He allows her into the family home as he sulks, and defends her presence to his irate sister: “I am not putting my donkey outside when I am sad, okay?” he says.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2023
And as he goes off and sulks at being denied, she coaxes him back.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2022
Ramón de Ocampo, who plays Hamlet, broods and sulks as any Hamlet must.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2022
Everyone was mad at Dad, which gave him a case of the sulks.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Although it’s his version of normal, Randolph said he wouldn’t blame the boy if Carter curled up in a ball and sulked about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
When I first graduated, I moved back in with my parents and sulked around because I was unemployed and without an internship lined up.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
Some 17-year-olds might have sulked at the prospect of swapping the glamour of the Premier League for games against Grimsby and Peterborough.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Early in 1779, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sulked back to Salzburg, Austria, having failed to land a permanent job abroad.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
Little Arliss sat in the dog run and sulked while I packed water from the spring.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
When Dembele was substituted, he encouraged his replacement rather than sulking.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
So does not sulking when kids don’t invite you on their vacation or forget to send Mother’s Day cards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
One such scene in the premiere smash cuts between a lonesome Chris sulking by himself at home.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2025
Elio doesn’t do too much sulking before he’s beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary take on the United Nations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
This last measure is the reason for Dussel’s sulking.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
