sullen

[suhl-uhn]

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adjective

showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve.
persistently and silently ill-humored; morose.
indicative of gloomy ill humor.

gloomy or dismal, as weather or a sound.
sluggish, as a stream.
Obsolete. malignant, as planets or influences.

Origin of sullen

1565–75; earlier solein, Middle English < ?

Related formssul·len·ly, adverbsul·len·ness, nounun·sul·len, adjectiveun·sul·len·ly, adverb

Synonyms for sullen

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1. See cross. 1, 2. See glum. 2. sulky, moody, sour, bad-tempered. 4. cheerless, clouded, overcast, somber, mournful, dark. 5. slow, stagnant.

Antonyms for sullen

1, 2. cheerful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sullenness

acrimony, anger, moroseness, gloominess, moodiness

Examples from the Web for sullenness

Historical Examples of sullenness

Then turning to me—You can bear the imputation of sullenness I see!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
The man kept his glance averted, and the cloud of sullenness deepened on his face.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
Morty fell back on sullenness, and bade him manage it his own way.
The Wild Geese
Stanley John Weyman
Lanty took the money with a mixture of humility and sullenness.
The O'Donoghue
Charles James Lever
The woman assumes a sullenness, and it is some time before she can be got to proceed.
An Outcast
F. Colburn Adams

British Dictionary definitions for sullenness

sullen

adjective

unwilling to talk or be sociable; sulky; morose
sombre; gloomya sullen day
literary sluggish; slowa sullen stream
obsolete threatening

noun

(plural) archaic a sullen mood

Derived Formssullenly, adverbsullenness, noun

Word Origin for sullen

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

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

Word Origin and History for sullenness

sullen

adj.

1570s, alteration of Middle English soleyn "unique, singular," from Anglo-French *solein, formed on the pattern of Old French soltain, from Old French soul "single" (see sole (n.2)). The sense shift in Middle English from "solitary" to "morose" occurred late 14c.