sullenness

Synonyms
1. See cross. 1, 2. See glum. 2. sulky, moody, sour, bad-tempered. 4. cheerless, clouded, overcast, somber, mournful, dark. 5. slow, stagnant.

Antonyms
1, 2. cheerful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To sullenness

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a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

sullen (ˈsʌlən)

—*adj*
1.	unwilling to talk or be sociable; sulky; morose
2.	sombre; gloomy: a sullen day
3.	literary sluggish; slow: a sullen stream
4.	obsolete threatening

—n
5.	archaic (plural) a sullen mood

[C16: perhaps from Anglo-French solain (unattested), ultimately related to Latin sōlus alone]

'sullenly

—*adv*

'sullenness

—n

sullen (ˈsʌlən)

—*adj*
1.	unwilling to talk or be sociable; sulky; morose
2.	sombre; gloomy: a sullen day
3.	literary sluggish; slow: a sullen stream
4.	obsolete threatening

—n
5.	archaic (plural) a sullen mood

[C16: perhaps from Anglo-French solain (unattested), ultimately related to Latin sōlus alone]

'sullenly

—*adv*

'sullenness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

sullen

1570s, alteration of M.E. soleyn "unique, singular," from Anglo-Fr. *solein, formed on the pattern of O.Fr. soltain, from O.Fr. soul "single" (see sole (2)). The sense shift in M.E. from "solitary" to "morose" occurred between about 1380 and 1400.

Example sentences

At best, the natural good-nature is edged with complaint or has changed into sullenness and gloom.

Her smiling response to him was replaced by sullenness.

Every song's chorus helpfully comes prearranged as a sing-along: no room for sullenness here.

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Related Words

mood pout

pout

Matching Quote

"There are persons who cannot make friends. Who are they? Those who cannot be friends. It is not the want of understanding or good nature, of entertaining or useful qualities, that you complain of: on the contrary, they have probably many points of attraction; but they have one that neutralises all these—they care nothing about you, and are neither the better nor worse for what you think of them. They manifest no joy at your approach; and when you leave them, it is with a feeling that they can do just as well without you. This is not sullenness, nor indifference, nor absence of mind; but they are intent solely on their own thoughts, and you are merely one of the subjects they exercise them upon. They live in society as in a solitude."

-William Hazlitt