Dictionary

sullen en · ADJ

Pronunciation

(US) audio
/ˈsʌlən/
sŭlʹən

Etymology

From Middle English soleyn, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Meanings

Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
- Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, / For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; / Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets, / ‘Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale; 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis:
- 2007, Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring. Sullen and bored the kids stay / And in this way wish away each day
- And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast. 1709, Matthew Prior, Pleasure:
Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
- Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change; c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], line 88:
- No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows, / The dreaded East is all the wind that blows. 1714, Alexander Pope, “Canto 4”, in The Rape of the Lock:
- He added not; and Satan bowing low / His gray diſſimulation, diſappear'd / Into thin Air diffuſ'd: for now began / Night with her ſullen wing to double-ſhade / The Deſert; Fowls in thir clay neſts were couch't; / And now wild Beaſts came forth the woods to roam. 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 27, lines 497–502:
- a sullen atmosphere
Sluggish; slow.
- The larger [stream] was placid, and even sullen, in its course. 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
- When ends life's transient dream, / when death’s cold, sullen stream / shall o'er me roll, 1830, Ray Palmer, “My Faith Looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary”:
(obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
- she meets again / The savage murderer's sullen gaze, 1835, John Greenleaf Whittier, Mogg Megone:
- Such sullen planets at my birth did shine, / They threaten every Fortune mixt with mine. 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
(obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
- Things are as sullen as we are, and will be what they are whatever we think of them. a. 1694, John Tillotson, Imprudence of Atheism:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
sullener	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic
sullenest	Degree=Sup		lexicographic

Translations (99)

gd gruamach (dismal) · mi tukumaru (having a brooding ill temper) · hy խոժոռ (having a brooding ill temper) · no trist (dismal) · fi juro (having a brooding ill temper) · cs nevrlý (having a brooding ill temper) · gd gruamach (having a brooding ill temper) · de verdrießlich (having a brooding ill temper) · de trüb (dismal) · oc ernhós (having a brooding ill temper) · de missmutig (having a brooding ill temper) · de lahm (sluggish) · cs pochmurný (dismal) · nl traag (sluggish) · cs zasmušilý (dismal) · mi tukumaru (dismal) · pt lento (sluggish) · de mürrisch (having a brooding ill temper) · ca malhumorat (having a brooding ill temper) · mi pōkēkē (dismal) · pt sombrio (dismal) · it disarmante (dismal) · de griesgrämig (dismal) · de traurig (dismal) · es hosco (having a brooding ill temper) · nl somber (dismal) · no muggen (dismal) · de jämmerlich (dismal) · sh мрзовољан (having a brooding ill temper) · de schlecht gelaunt (having a brooding ill temper) · ru угрю́мый (having a brooding ill temper) · de sauer (having a brooding ill temper) · de zäh (sluggish) · de trübselig (dismal) · da vrangvillig (having a brooding ill temper) · de unzufrieden (having a brooding ill temper) · fi ynseä (having a brooding ill temper) · sh mrzovoljan (having a brooding ill temper) · grc σκυθρωπός (having a brooding ill temper) · it lento (sluggish) · ru печа́льный (dismal) · de unfreundlich (having a brooding ill temper) · ca sorrut (having a brooding ill temper) · no utilfreds (dismal) · bg навъсен (having a brooding ill temper) · da mut (having a brooding ill temper) · bg мрачен (having a brooding ill temper) · da mørk (dismal) · de fade (dismal) · grc βαρύθυμος (having a brooding ill temper) · mi whakamokeke (having a brooding ill temper) · de übellaunig (having a brooding ill temper) · de träge (sluggish) · de trostlos (dismal) · enm soleyn (having a brooding ill temper) · de trübe (dismal) · it astioso (having a brooding ill temper) · fi synkeä (dismal) · bg зловещ (dismal) · sv surmulen (having a brooding ill temper) · de finster (dismal) · it afflitto (having a brooding ill temper) · es fosco (having a brooding ill temper) · da treven (sluggish) · pdt prunsch (having a brooding ill temper) · it pigro (sluggish) · de trist (dismal) · mi whakarikiriki (having a brooding ill temper) · de düster (dismal) · mi pōkē (dismal) · cs mrzutý (having a brooding ill temper) · it tetro (dismal) · fr lent (sluggish) · nl gemelijk (having a brooding ill temper) · it cupo (dismal) · pt carrancudo (having a brooding ill temper) · fr morose (having a brooding ill temper) · gl túzaro (having a brooding ill temper) · da dyster (dismal) · de trübsinnig (dismal) · gl lento (sluggish) · ca esquerp (having a brooding ill temper) · cs bezútěšný (dismal) · de miserabel (dismal) · es huraño (having a brooding ill temper) · ga doicheallach (having a brooding ill temper) · sh суморан (dismal) · sh sumoran (dismal) · nl nors (having a brooding ill temper) · fi yrmeä (having a brooding ill temper) · hy մռայլ (dismal) · de kläglich (dismal) · fr maussade (having a brooding ill temper) · mi haumaruru (having a brooding ill temper) · de grämlich (having a brooding ill temper) · sv trumpen (having a brooding ill temper) · ckb گرژ (having a brooding ill temper) · fr morne (dismal) · fi nyreä (having a brooding ill temper)

sullen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

(US) audio
/ˈsʌlən/
sŭlʹən

Etymology

From Middle English soleyn, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Meanings

(archaic) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
- He sit neither with seint Johan, / Symond ne Jude, / Ne with maydenes ne with martires, / Confessours ne wydewes; / But by hymself as a soleyn, / And served on erthe. c. 1377, William Langland, Piers Plowman, lines 7830–7835:
(in-plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
- [M]y brother […] charged my desire of being excused coming down to sullens, because a certain person had been spoken against, upon whom, as he supposed, my fancy ran. 1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 7, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- And let them die that age and sullens have; 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 2, scene 1], line 139:
- If she be not sick of the sullens, I see not the least infirmity in her. 1632, Philip Massinger, “Act III. Scene IV.”, in The Emperor of the East:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
sullens	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Synonyms

anchoret · shut-in · hermit · sullen · anchorite · glumps · solitary · eremite · recluse · Miller of Dee · loner · monk · shut-in · aloner · mope

sullen en · VERB

Pronunciation

(US) audio
/ˈsʌlən/
sŭlʹən

Etymology

From Middle English soleyn, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Meanings

(obsolete) To make sullen.
- The idle man is like the dumb jack in a virginal: while all the other dance out a winning music, this, like a member out of joint, sullens the whole body, with an ill disturbing laziness. c. 1620, Owen Feltham, “XLVIII. Of Idleness.”, in Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political; republished as Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political, London: Whittaker & Co, 1840, page 128:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
sullening	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sullened	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
sullened	Tense=Past	lexicographic
sullens	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic

sullen en · ADJ

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Translations (99)

sullen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Synonyms

sullen en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms