Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or quality of being sullen.
- noun Silence; reserve.
- noun Synonyms See
sullen .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The state or quality of being
sullen . - noun countable, rare The result or product of being
sullen .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a sullen moody resentful disposition
- noun a gloomy ill-tempered feeling
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They do not in sullenness deny him an answer, nor stand mute; but they tell him that they are in no care about it.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
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It consisted chiefly of a dialogue between the two lovers; and the boy, with a wonderful ease and grace and skill, mimicked the shy coquetries of the girl, her fits of petulance and dictation, and the pathetic remonstrances of her companion, his humble entreaties and his final sullenness, which is only conquered by her sudden and ample consent.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 31, October, 1873 Various
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What was then called sullenness now took the name of resignation, and stupidity was quiet contempt.
The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe
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She was frightened and ashamed, and the sullenness which is the refuge of most young people descended upon her like a darkness.
Mary, Mary James Stephens 1916
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He spent the whole day in a queer mood, cherishing a kind of sullenness against himself.
Five Tales John Galsworthy 1900
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He spent the whole day in a queer mood, cherishing a kind of sullenness against himself.
Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900
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The animal had the character of being, contrary to what his species usually are, exceedingly savage; and he suffered himself to be taken up by me and carried from his foes with a kind of sullenness; but when, being out of the reach of danger, he was put down, he gazed on his deliverer, and then crouched at his feet.
The Dog William Youatt 1811
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"ill-will" he describes as "an anger that endures and grows old," and this the Philosopher ascribes to "sullenness"; while he describes
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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He thought that some of them resented his sullenness, his silence.
The Empty Family Colm Tóibín 2011
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He thought that some of them resented his sullenness, his silence.
The Empty Family Colm Tóibín 2011
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