sullen

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishsolein,fromAnglo-Normansoleyn(“alone”),fromOld Frenchsole(“single, sole, alone”),fromLatinsōlus(“by oneself alone”).The change in meaning from "single" tomoroseoccurred in Middle English.

Pronunciation

• enPR:sŭlʹən,IPA^(key):/ˈsʌlən/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ʌlən
• Hyphenation:sul‧len

Adjective

sullen(comparativesullener,superlativesullenest)

1. Having a brooding illtemper;sulky.

   Synonyms:sulky,morose,broody;see alsoThesaurus:sullen

   • Antonyms:cheerful,content,lighthearted,pleased
   • 1593,William Shakespeare,Venus and Adonis:

     Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, / For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; / Still is hesullen,still he lours and frets, / ‘Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;

   • 1709,Matthew Prior,Pleasure:

     AndsullenI forsook the imperfect feast.

   • 2007,Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree,Nil Recurring.

     Sullenand bored the kids stay / And in this way wish away each day

2. Gloomy;dismal;foreboding.

   Synonyms:forlorn,melancholy;see alsoThesaurus:cheerless,Thesaurus:sad

   asullenatmosphere

   • c.1591–1595(date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene v],line88:

     Our solemn hymns tosullendirges change;

   • 1671,John Milton,“The First Book”, inParadise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes,London:[…]J[ohn]M[acock]for John Starkey[…],→OCLC,page27,lines497–502:

     He added not; and Satan bowing low / His gray diſſimulation, diſappear'd / Into thin Air diffuſ'd: for now began / Night with herſullenwing to double-ſhade / The Deſert; Fowls in thir clay neſts were couch't; / And now wild Beaſts came forth the woods to roam.

   • 1714,Alexander Pope,“Canto 4”, inThe Rape of the Lock:

     No cheerful breeze thissullenregion knows, / The dreaded East is all the wind that blows.

3. Sluggish;slow.

   Synonyms:ponderous,stately;see alsoThesaurus:slow

   • 1814July 7, [Walter Scott],Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since.[…],volume(please specify |volume=I to III),Edinburgh:[…]James Ballantyne and Co.forArchibald Constable and Co.;London:Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown,→OCLC:

     The larger [stream] was placid, and evensullen,in its course.

   • 1830,Ray Palmer(lyrics and music), “My Faith Looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary”:

     When ends life's transient dream, / when death’s cold,sullenstream / shall o'er me roll,

4. (archaic)Lonely;solitary;desolate.

   Synonyms:forlorn,lonesome

   • 1380,Geoffrey Chaucer,The Parliament of Fowles,lines606–607:

     I recche not how longe that ye stryve; / Lat ech of hem besoleynal hir lyve,

   • 1390,John Gower,Confessio Amantis‎^[1],lines133–136:

     That ofte, whanne I scholde pleie, / It makth me drawe out of the weie / Insouleinplace be miselve, / As doth a labourer to delve,

   • c.1405,Couldrette,The Romans of Partenay‎^[2],lines5431–5432:

     Where ye shall finde thissolainauenture, / Full strang vnto sight of ech creature

5. (obsolete)Mischievous;malignant;unpropitious.

   Synonyms:malevolent,ominous;see alsoThesaurus:evil,Thesaurus:ominous

   • 1675,John Dryden,Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy.[…],London:[…]T[homas]N[ewcomb]forHenry Herringman,[…],published1676,→OCLC,(please specify the page number):

     Suchsullenplanets at my birth did shine, / They threaten every Fortune mixt with mine.

   • 1835,John Greenleaf Whittier,Mogg Megone:

     she meets again / The savage murderer'ssullengaze,

6. (obsolete)Obstinate;intractable.

   Synonyms:inflexible,persistent;see alsoThesaurus:obstinate

   • a.1694,John Tillotson,Imprudence of Atheism:

     Things are assullenas we are, and will be what they are whatever we think of them.

Translations

having a brooding ill temper

• Armenian:խոժոռ(hy)(xožoṙ)
• Bulgarian:мрачен(bg)(mračen),навъсен(bg)(navǎsen)
• Catalan:esquerp(ca),sorrut(ca),malhumorat(ca)
• Danish:vrangvillig,mut
• Dutch:gemelijk(nl),nors(nl)
• Finnish:nyreä,yrmeä(fi),ynseä(fi),juro(fi)
• French:maussade(fr),morose(fr)
• Galician:túzaro(gl)
• German:mürrisch(de),schlecht gelaunt,sauer(de),missmutig(de),übellaunig(de),unfreundlich(de),verdrießlich(de),grämlich(de),unzufrieden(de)
• Greek:

  Ancient:σκυθρωπός(skuthrōpós),βαρύθυμος(barúthumos)

• Irish:doicheallach
• Italian:afflitto(it)m,astioso(it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:گرژ(girj)

• Maori:whakamokeke,haumaruru,tukumaru,whakarikiriki,tukumaru
• Plautdietsch:prunsch
• Portuguese:carrancudo(pt)
• Russian:угрю́мый(ru)(ugrjúmyj)
• Scottish Gaelic:gruamach
• Serbo-Croatian:мрзовољан,mrzovoljan(sh)
• Spanish:hosco(es),huraño(es)
• Swedish:surmulen(sv),trumpen(sv)

sulky—seesulky

dismal

• Armenian:մռայլ(hy)(mṙayl)
• Bulgarian:зловещ(bg)(zlovešt)
• Danish:mørk(da),dyster
• Dutch:somber(nl)
• Finnish:synkeä(fi)
• French:morne(fr)
• German:düster(de),traurig(de),finster(de),trostlos(de),trübselig(de),fade(de),trüb(de),kläglich(de),trübe(de),miserabel(de),jämmerlich(de),trist(de),trübsinnig(de),kläglich(de),griesgrämig(de)
• Italian:tetro(it),cupo(it),disarmante(it)
• Maori:pōkē,pōkēkē,tukumaru
• Norwegian:muggen,utilfreds,trist
• Portuguese:sombrio(pt)
• Russian:печа́льный(ru)(pečálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic:gruamach
• Serbo-Croatian:суморан,sumoran(sh)
• Spanish:sombrío(es)

sluggish

• Danish:treven
• Dutch:traag(nl)
• French:lent(fr)
• Galician:lento(gl)
• German:träge(de),lahm(de),zäh(de)
• Italian:lento(it)m,pigro(it)m
• Portuguese:lento(pt)
• Spanish:lento(es)

Noun

sullen(pluralsullens)

1. (archaic)One who issolitary,or lives alone; ahermit.

   Synonyms:loner,shut-in;see alsoThesaurus:recluse

   • c.1377,William Langland,Piers Plowman,lines7830–7835:

     He sit neither with seint Johan, / Symond ne Jude, / Ne with maydenes ne with martires, / Confessours ne wydewes; / But by hymself as asoleyn,/ And served on erthe.

2. (in theplural)Sullen feelings or manners;sulks;moroseness.

   Synonyms:glumps,mope

   • 1595December 9 (first known performance),William Shakespeare,“The life and death of King Richard the Second”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies(First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act 2, scene 1],line139:

     And let them die that age andsullenshave;

   • 1632,Philip Massinger,“Act III. Scene IV.”, inThe Emperor of the East:

     If she be not sick of thesullens,I see not the least infirmity in her.

   • 1748,[Samuel Richardson], chapter 7, inClarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady:[…],volume I, London:[…]S[amuel]Richardson;[…],→OCLC:

     [M]y brother […] charged my desire of being excused coming down tosullens,because a certain person had been spoken against, upon whom, as he supposed, my fancy ran.

Verb

sullen(third-person singular simple presentsullens,present participlesullening,simple past and past participlesullened)

1. (obsolete)To make sullen.
   • c.1620,Owen Feltham,“XLVIII. Of Idleness.”, inResolves, Divine, Moral, and Political;republished asResolves, Divine, Moral, Political,London: Whittaker & Co,1840,page128:

     The idle man is like the dumb jack in a virginal: while all the other dance out a winning music, this, like a member out of joint,sullensthe whole body, with an ill disturbing laziness.

Anagrams

• unsell

Middle Dutch

Etymology

FromOld Dutchsulan.

Verb

sullen

1. (auxiliary)must,tohave to
2. (auxiliary,negated)may,beallowedto
3. (auxiliary)will,shall,begoing to(future tense)
   • 1249,Schepenbrief van Bochoute,Velzeke,easternFlanders:

     Descepenen van bochouta quedden alle degene die dese lettren sienseleni(n) onsen here.

     The aldermen of Bochoute address all whowillsee this letter by our lord.

4. (auxiliary,in the past tense)to beabout to(inchoative)
5. (modalauxiliary)indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
6. (modalauxiliary)indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable

Inflection

This verb needs aninflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• suelen
• sēlen
• sellen
• sōlen
• sollen

Descendants

• Dutch:zullen
  • Afrikaans:sal
  • Jersey Dutch:zal
  • Negerhollands:sa,sal
  • Skepi Creole Dutch:sa
• Limburgish:zölle,zólle

Further reading

• “sullen”,inVroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek,2000
• Verwijs, E.,Verdam, J.(1885–1929) “sullen”,inMiddelnederlandsch Woordenboek,The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff,→ISBN

Middle English

Verb

sullen

1. Alternative form ofsellen

Northern Sami

Verb

sūllen

1. first-personsingularpastindicativeofsuollit