Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Sullen?

\Sul"len\, a. [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See {Sole}, a.] 1. Lonely; solitary; desolate. [Obs.] --Wyclif (Job iii. 14). 2. Gloomy; dismal; foreboding. --Milton. Solemn hymns so sullen dirges change. --Shak. 3. Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious. Such sullen planets at my birth did shine. --Dryden. 4. Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose. And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast. --Prior. 5. Obstinate; intractable. Things are as sullen as we are. --Tillotson. 6. Heavy; dull; sluggish. ``The larger stream was placid, and even sullen, in its course.'' --Sir W. Scott. Syn: Sulky; sour; cross; ill-natured; morose; peevish; fretful; ill-humored; petulant; gloomy; malign; intractable. Usage: {Sullen}, {Sulky}. Both sullen and sulky show themselves in the demeanor. Sullenness seems to be an habitual sulkiness, and sulkiness a temporary sullenness. The former may be an innate disposition; the latter, a disposition occasioned by recent injury. Thus we are in a sullen mood, and in a sulky fit. No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows; The dreaded east is all the wind that blows. --Pope. -- {Sul"len*ly}, adv. -- {Sul"len*ness}, n.
\Sul"len\, n. 1. One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman. 2. pl. Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness; as, to have the sullens. [Obs.] --Shak.
\Sul"len\, v. t. To make sullen or sluggish. [Obs.] Sullens the whole body with . . . laziness. --Feltham.