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:
She doesn’t sulk or complain or cry; she simply lives in her memories, and has a habit of wearing the gown in which she shared a last dance with her husband.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Kane said Bayern had "no time to sulk" and "would not let the defeat define our season".
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
Fin Gough and Sioned Cray, from Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire, had to explain the definition of the word poody, meaning to sulk.
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
“It’s a compliment! Heroes rarely have the guts to demand things. Usually they just sulk until a magical sidekick feels bad for them and does all the work while they get all the credit.”
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
"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 doesn’t say so, exactly, but he sulks if I try to wear them.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2022
Ramón de Ocampo, who plays Hamlet, broods and sulks as any Hamlet must.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2022
He rages and sulks; he suffers feeling rejected for reasons he can’t always control.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
“There’s always next year, hon,” says Dad, because that’s the Dad-ish thing to say when your daughter, more or less, sulks through an entire weekend.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
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
And then years later in 2021, Mr. Trump sulked about his political future inside Mar-a-Lago.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
May Belle either tried to push in with him and Leslie or sulked at being left out.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
Laura and Mary will dance, when not getting in one another’s hair, or sulking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
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
The Mariners lost Sunday, but they weren’t sulking.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
She had already been sulking over her lemon peels.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
