sullen
adjective
Synonyms
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Example Sentences
Richard Eisenberg, People, 26 Oct. 2009 The skies grew sullen and the air chillier, but it wasn't until the third day that the snow came. Bill Bryson, A Walk In The Woods, 1999 Despite angry alumni calls and sullen students protests—including the cancellation of all fraternity parties at the school's annual Winter Carnival—the faculty unanimously voted in favor of the college's goal to make fraternities and sororities substantially coed, along with developing new social alternatives for its 4,300 undergraduates. Anita Hamilton, Time, 1 Mar. 1999 sullen skies that matched our mood on the day of the funeral sullen and bored at his in-laws' house, he couldn't wait for the holidays to end WIRED, 25 Aug. 2022 The blow is such that we're told a sullen Hamilton may or may not return for 2022. Steven Cole Smith, Car and Driver, 21 Aug. 2022 At different points in the story, Dezi is either a passionate and vital contributor to an up-and-coming jazz combo or a sullen crank coping with a lot of pain. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2022 Another long-standing relationship was thus established: the sullen pride of salt-of-the-earth islanders rubbing up against the pretensions of summer folk. Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 One was the sullen sky and swampy feel of humid late July. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 30 July 2022 That was also a time of the sullen track superstar and an era marred by doping. Eddie Pells, ajc, 17 July 2022 The right-hander was informed by manager Craig Counsell, and a visiting clubhouse that had been a sullen place suddenly erupted in cheers as the news quickly spread. Todd Rosiak, Journal Sentinel, 17 July 2022 Multiple neighbors said Edwards didn’t appear sullen or defeated in the wake of the incident. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, 1 July 2022 See More Word History
Middle English solein solitary, from Anglo-French sulein, solain, perhaps from sol, soul single, sole + -ain after Old French soltain solitary, private, from Late Latin solitaneus, ultimately from Latin solus alone
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
sullen
adjective
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairiesullen
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- somber
- bleak
- depressive
- lonely
- dark
- darkening
- desolate
- depressing
- solemn
- lonesome
- gray
- murky
- morose
- cold
- morbid
- depressed
- miserable
- glum
- blue
- cheerless
- black
- forlorn
- gloomy
- disconsolate
- saturnine
- lugubrious
- wretched
- chill
- melancholy
- dreary
- sad
- grey
- dismal
- sepulchral
- funereal
- drear
- comfortless
- oppressive
- elegiac
- sombre
- cloudy
- godforsaken
- tenebrous
- dejected
- dire
- plutonian
- unhappy
- woebegone
- sunless
- melancholic
- mournful
- dreich
- dull
- desperate
- hangdog
- despondent
- hopeless
- dim
- mirthless
- grim
- elegiacal
- menacing
- droopy
- inconsolable
- sorrowful
- Cimmerian
- negative
- woeful
- pessimistic
- low
- distressful
- discouraging
- tenebrific
- dour
- down
- dispiriting
- plaintive
- discomfiting
- upsetting
- drab
- dismaying
- distressing
- disheartening
- colorless
- lamentable
- threatening
- louring
- lowery
- lowering
- loury
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- cheerful
- friendly
- cheery
- bright
- cordial
- jolly
- joyous
- joyful
- merry
- blithe
- sunshiny
- mirthful
- buoyant
- gay
- festive
- comforting
- optimistic
- gay
- blithesome
- hopeful
- jocund
- encouraging
- cheering
- heartwarming
- lighthearted
- lightsome
Synonyms & Similar Words
- pouting
- irritable
- sulky
- pouty
- surly
- mopey
- glum
- brooding
- morose
- dour
- petulant
- peevish
- snappish
- irascible
- gloomy
- grumpy
- cross
- grouchy
- sensitive
- waspish
- crotchety
- pettish
- crabby
- disagreeable
- choleric
- snarky
- testy
- ornery
- cantankerous
- moping
- raspy
- down in the mouth
- bilious
- snippy
- dyspeptic
- short-tempered
- tetchy
- cranky
- ill-humored
- ill-tempered
- huffy
- quick-tempered
- ratty
- prickly
- perverse
- temperamental
- snippety
- ill-natured
- bearish
- touchy
- snappy
- thin-skinned
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- cheerful
- cheery
- perky
- sociable
- sunny
- carefree
- easygoing
- good-natured
- good-humored
- good-tempered
- gladsome
- relaxed
- happy-go-lucky
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of sullen are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sulky, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.
While the synonyms crabbed and sullen are close in meaning, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.
Although the words gloomy and sullen have much in common, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.
In some situations, the words glum and sullen are roughly equivalent. However, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.
Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.
The meanings of saturnine and sullen largely overlap; however, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.
The synonyms sulky and sullen are sometimes interchangeable, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.
While in some cases nearly identical to sullen, surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.