churlishly rude or bad-tempered: a surly waiter.Synonyms: sullen, uncivil, brusque, irascible, splenetic, choleric, cross; grumpy, grouchy, crabby.
2.
unfriendly or hostile; menacingly irritable: a surly old lion.Synonyms: threatening, malevolent.
3.
dark or dismal; menacing; threatening: a surly sky.Synonyms: ominous.
4.
Obsolete. lordly; arrogant.
Origin: 1560–70; spelling variant of obsolete sirly lordly, arrogant, equivalent to sir + -ly
Related forms
sur·li·ly, adverb
sur·li·ness, noun
un·sur·li·ly, adverb
un·sur·li·ness, noun
un·sur·ly, adjective
Synonym Study Glum,morose,sullen,dour,surly all are adjectives describing a gloomy, unsociable attitude. Glum describes a depressed, spiritless condition or manner, usually temporary rather than habitual: a glum shrug of the shoulders; a glum, hopeless look in his eye.Morose, which adds to glum a sense of bitterness, implies a habitual and pervasive gloominess: a sour, morose manner; morose withdrawal from human contact.Sullen usually implies reluctance or refusal to speak accompanied by glowering looks expressing anger or a sense of injury: a sullen manner, silence, look.Dour refers to a stern and forbidding aspect, stony and unresponsive: dour rejection of friendly overtures.Surly implies gruffness of speech and manner, usually accompanied by an air of injury and ill temper: a surly reply.
1566, "lordly, majestic," alteration of M.E. sirly "lordly, imperious" (14c.), from sir. The meaning "rude, gruff" is first attested 1670. For sense development, cf. lordly, and Ger. herrisch "domineering, imperious," from Herr "master, lord."