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.
Definition 2024
sullen
sullen
English
Adjective
sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)
- Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
- Prior
- And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.
- Prior
- Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:
- Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
- 1671, John Milton, Paradise Regained, Book 1, line 500:
- 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.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:
- Sluggish; slow.
- Sir Walter Scott
- The larger stream was placid, and even sullen, in its course.
- Sir Walter Scott
- (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif Bible (Job iii. 14) to this entry?)
- (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
- Dryden
- Such sullen planets at my birth did shine.
- Dryden
- (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
- Tillotson
- Things are as sullen as we are.
- Tillotson
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
having a brooding ill temper
dismal
Noun
sullen (plural sullens)
- (obsolete) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)
- Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
- to have the sullens
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, II. i. 139:
- And let them die that age and sullens have;
Middle Dutch
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Dutch skulan, sulan, from Proto-Germanic *skulaną.
Verb
sullen
- (auxiliary) must, to have to
- (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
- (auxiliary) will, shall, be going to (future tense)
- (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
- (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
- (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable
Inflection
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
- Dutch: zullen