What does sullen mean?
Definitions for sullen
ˈsʌl ənsullen
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sullen.
Princeton's WordNet
dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullenadjective
showing a brooding ill humor
"a dark scowl"; "the proverbially dour New England Puritan"; "a glum, hopeless shrug"; "he sat in moody silence"; "a morose and unsociable manner"; "a saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius"- Bruce Bliven; "a sour temper"; "a sullen crowd"
heavy, lowering, sullen, threateningadjective
darkened by clouds
"a heavy sky"
Wiktionary
sullenadjective
Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
sullenadjective
Dismal; somber.
sullenadjective
Sluggish; slow.
Etymology: solein, from solein, from sole), from solus. The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
SULLENadjective
Etymology: Of this word the etymology is obscure.
Wilmot continued still sullen and perverse, and every day grew more insolent. Edward Hyde.
A man in a jail is sullen and out of humour at his first coming in. Roger L'Estrange.
Forc’d by my pride, I my concern suppress’d;
Pretended drowsiness, and wish of rest;
And sullen I forsook th’ imperfect feast. Matthew Prior.If we sit down sullen and inactive, in expectation that God should do all, we shall find ourselves miserably deceived. John Rogers.
Such sullen planets at my birth did shine,
They threaten every fortune mixt with mine. Dryden.The sullen fiend her sounding wings display’d,
Unwilling left the night, and sought the nether shade. Dryd.Things are as sullen as we are, and will be what they are, whatever we think of them. John Tillotson, Sermons.
Why are thine eyes fixt to the sullen earth,
Gazing at that which seems to dim thy sight? William Shakespeare, H. VI.Night with her sullen wings to double shade,
The desart fowls in their clay nests were couch’d,
And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam. John Milton.A glimpse of moon-shine, streak’d with red;
A shuffled, sullen, and uncertain light,
That dances through the clouds, and shuts again. Dryden.No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows;
The dreaded East is all the wind that blows. Alexander Pope.Be thou the trumpet of our wrath,
And sullen presage of your own decay. William Shakespeare, K. John.
ChatGPT
sullen
Sullen generally refers to a negative emotional state characterized by a gloomy, gloomy, or morose demeanor. It can depict a person who is quiet, sulky, or ill-humored, often due to disappointment, resentment, or refusal to interact socially. It can also describe an environment, atmosphere, or scene that is cheerless, dismal, or dark.
Webster Dictionary
Sullenadjective
lonely; solitary; desolate
Sullenadjective
gloomy; dismal; foreboding
Sullenadjective
mischievous; malignant; unpropitious
Sullenadjective
gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose
Sullenadjective
obstinate; intractable
Sullenadjective
heavy; dull; sluggish
Sullennoun
one who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit
Sullennoun
sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness; as, to have the sullens
Sullenverb
to make sullen or sluggish
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Sullen
sul′en, adj. gloomily angry and silent: malignant, baleful: dark: dull.—adv. Sull′enly.—n. Sull′enness.—n.pl. Sull′ens, sullen fits. [O. Fr. solain—L. solus, alone.]
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
SULLEN
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sullen is ranked #51830 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Sullen surname appeared 401 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Sullen.
87.2% or 350 total occurrences were Black.
9.9% or 40 total occurrences were White.
1.7% or 7 total occurrences were of two or more races.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- 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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of sullen in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of sullen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of sullen in a Sentence
Winter lies too long in country towns hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.
I prefer complexity to certainty, cheerful mysteries to sullen facts.
Rough wind, that moanest loudGrief too sad for songWild wind, when sullen cloudKnells all the night longSad storm, whose tears are vain,Bare woods, whose branches strain,Deep caves and dreary main, - Wail, for the world's wrong
He came across as a sullen, scary and Terminator-ish type.
Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for sullen
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- dyster, mut, treven, mørk, tvær, vrangvilligDanish
- αγέλαστοςGreek
- hoscoSpanish
- pahantuulinen, juro, synkeä, yrmeä, nyreä, ynseäFinnish
- lent, morne, maussade, moroseFrench
- gruamachScottish Gaelic
- túzaroGalician
- उदासHindi
- մռայլ, խոժոռArmenian
- cupo, disarmante, pigro, astioso, tetro, lento, afflittoItalian
- sed tristesLatin
- whakamokeke, tukumaru, whakarikiriki, haumaruruMāori
- gemelijk, nors, traag, somberDutch
- trist, mutt, utilfreds, muggenNorwegian
- ponuryPolish
- печальный, угрюмыйRussian
- мрзовољан, суморан, sumoran, mrzovoljanSerbo-Croatian
- trumpenSwedish
- اداسUrdu
- buồnVietnamese
- יבערראַשןYiddish
- 忧郁Chinese
Get even more translations for sullen »
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