SULLEN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Sullen

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/sˈələn/ Listen

adjective

Sullen adj.

1.

Lonely; solitary; desolate. (Obs.)

2.

Gloomy; dismal; foreboding. "Solemn hymns so sullen dirges change."

3.

Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious. "Such sullen planets at my birth did shine."

4.

Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose. "And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast."

5.

Obstinate; intractable. "Things are as sullen as we are."

6.

Heavy; dull; sluggish. "The larger stream was placid, and even sullen, in its course."

Synonyms: 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 sullen region knows; The dreaded east is all the wind that blows."

noun

Sullen n.

1.

One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit. (Obs.)

2.

pl. Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness; as, to have the sullens. (Obs.)

verb

Sullen v. t. To make sullen or sluggish. (Obs.) "Sullens the whole body with... laziness."

See images of 'Sullen'

Etymology of 'Sullen'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sullen" Quotes from Famous Books

... Wichita and Emporia the virtues of their chewing gum or talking machines, or discussing the ever changing Situation with the local statesmen. At five o'clock Henry should be on his way to the Wichita golf course to reduce his figure, and the sullen roar of the muffler cut-out on the family car should be warning me that we were going to picnic that night out on the Osage hills in the sunset, where it would be up to me to eat gluten bread and avoid sugars, starches and fats to preserve the ...

— The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me • William Allen White

... no use to tease, so he went to the couch in the dining-room. He felt very sullen and bitter, and threw himself down on the friendly pillows to indulge in a few tears. In a few moments he heard subdued voices on the veranda just outside the window. Aunt Ella was saying, "I know they would both enjoy the drive this lovely day." "Of course ...

— Stories Worth Rereading • Various

... Havre de Grace. They who had trodden, for hours, with burning hearts around the sites of their desecrated homes, retired to the house of some charitable and more fortunate neighbor, to seek such rest as misery may hope. They went with sullen as well as sad brows, and as they passed one house in the village they muttered "curses not loud, but deep." This was the house in which Major Scott had found a refuge for himself and the prisoner, whom all his influence had scarcely been able to protect. To remove him from Havre de Grace in ...

— Evenings at Donaldson Manor - Or, The Christmas Guest • Maria J. McIntosh

... the sweat from my forehead. The silence in the room seemed almost unnatural, and behind it we could hear the dull, monotonous roar of the machinery, still doing its work. Once more I turned to the window, and as I did so I heard the sullen murmur of voices. A little way down the street a solid body of mounted police were forcing back ...

— The Great Secret • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... well as Yvain the Adulterer. Beside Yvain of Cavaliot was Garravain of Estrangot. After the Knight with the Horn was the Youth with the Golden Ring. And Tristan who never laughed sat beside Bliobleheris, and beside Brun of Piciez was his brother Gru the Sullen. The Armourer sat next, who preferred war to peace. Next sat Karadues the Shortarmed, a knight of good cheer; and Caveron of Robendic, and the son of King Quenedic and the Youth of Quintareus and Yder of the Dolorous Mount. Gaheriet ...

— Four Arthurian Romances - "Erec et Enide", "Cliges", "Yvain", and "Lancelot" • Chretien de Troyes

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