Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sullen
Sul′len
,Adj.
[OE. ]
solein
, solain
, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus
solitary, fr. L. solus
alone. See Sole
, Adj.
1.
Lonely; solitary; desolate.
[Obs.]
Wyclif (Job iii. 14).
2.
Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
Milton.
Solemn hymns so
sullen
dirges change. Shakespeare
3.
Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
Such
sullen
planets at my birth did shine. Dryden.
4.
Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose.
And
sullen
I forsook the imperfect feast. Prior.
5.
Obstinate; intractable.
Things are as
sullen
as we are. Tillotson.
6.
Heavy; dull; sluggish.
“The larger stream was placid, and even sullen, in its course.” Sir W. Scott.
Syn. – Sulky; sour; cross; ill-natured; morose; peevish; fretful; ill-humored; petulant; gloomy; malign; intractable.
– Sullen
, Sulky
. Both sullen and sulky show themselves in the demeanor. Sullenness seems to be an habitual sulkiness, and sulkiness a temporary sullenness. The former may be an innate disposition; the latter, a disposition occasioned by recent injury. Thus we are in a sullen mood, and in a sulky fit. No cheerful breeze this
The dreaded east is all the wind that blows.
– sullen
region knows;The dreaded east is all the wind that blows.
Pope.
Sul′len-ly
, adv.
Sul′len-ness
, Noun.
Sul′len
,Noun.
1.
One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
[Obs.]
Piers Plowman.
2.
pl.
Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness;
as, to have the
. sullens
[Obs.]
Shak.
Sul′len
,Verb.
T.
To make sullen or sluggish.
[Obs.]
Sullens
the whole body with . . . laziness. Feltham.
Webster 1828 Edition
Sullen
SUL'LEN
,Adj.
1.
Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor. And sullen I forsook th' imperfect feast.
2.
Mischievous; malignant. Such sullen planets at my birth did shine.
3.
Obstinate; intractable. Things are as sullen as we are.
4.
Gloomy; dark; dismal. Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth?
Night with her sullen wings.
No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows.
5.
Heavy; dull; sorrowful. Be thou the trumpet of our wrath,
And sullen presage of your own decay.