Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Sullenly ill-humored; gruff.
- adjective Threatening, as of weather conditions; ominous.
- adjective Obsolete Arrogant; domineering.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Sour in nature or disposition; morose; crabbed; churlish; ill-natured; cross and rude: as, a surly fellow; a surly dog.
- Arrogant; haughty.
- Rough; dark; tempestuous; gloomy; dismal.
- Synonyms Cross, crusty, snappish, uncivil.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Arrogant; haughty.
- adjective Gloomily morose; ill-natured, abrupt, and rude; severe; sour; crabbed; rough; sullen; gloomy.
- adjective Rough; dark; tempestuous.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective obsolete
Lordly ,arrogant ,supercilious . - adjective
Irritated ,bad-tempered ,unfriendly . - adjective
Threatening ,menacing ,gloomy . - adverb obsolete In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In no way a cuddly cowboy Woody, Josh Brolin as the title surly supernatural gunslinger is a very different kind of settler dodging bullets across the wild west, or rather deep south, settling old scores and new ones that may not have even arrived,
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Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.
Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004
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Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.
Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004
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Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.
Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004
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* I hadn't spent a considerable amount of time around this team since the summer of 2007, when a certain surly left fielder was taking aim at the all-time home run record, and let's suffice it to say the clubhouse is very different now.
The surprising San Francisco Giants Dave Sheinin 2010
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I called surly strangers in Ohio and hate-filled racists in Pennsylvania,
THE BROKEN THREAD 2009
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"But no matter what price you get on a firearm, Scott, his unnamed and nasty brother, and certain surly staff members including" Derek "always leaves me with the impression that I was either cheated or manhandled by unwashed hands."
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But no matter what price you get on a firearm, Scott, his unnamed and nasty brother, and certain surly staff members including "Derek" always leaves me with the impression that I was either cheated or manhandled by unwashed hands.
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In silence, and with an expression of surly disappointment, Noodles was regretting once more that he and his third wife, Carmen, with whom he was in the throes of a bitter divorce, were no longer on speaking terms.
Closing Time Joseph Heller 1994
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By ANN LANDI In photographs, Tim Burton looks the part of the goth filmmaker: rumpled and slightly menacing, his grizzled locks untamed, his expression surly behind a barricade of
sonofgroucho commented on the word surly
As opposed to surely...
December 8, 2007
bilby commented on the word surly
Surly in the morning for words like this.
December 8, 2007
reesetee commented on the word surly
I'm not joking. And stop calling me Surly.
December 8, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word surly
Spot on!
December 8, 2007
bilby commented on the word surly
From sirly in Middle English meaning 'like a lord or a sir'.
December 8, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word surly
You made that up, didn't you?
December 8, 2007
bilby commented on the word surly
Nae.
December 8, 2007
jorge999 commented on the word surly
'...I awaken bright and surly.'
--jorge999
November 4, 2009