sullen
Americanadjective
-
showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve.
- Antonyms:
- cheerful
-
persistently and silently ill-humored; morose.
- Synonyms:
- bad-tempered, cranky, sour, moody, sulky
- Antonyms:
- cheerful
-
indicative of gloomy ill humor.
-
gloomy or dismal, as weather or a sound.
-
sluggish, as a stream.
-
Obsolete. malignant, as planets or influences.
adjective
-
unwilling to talk or be sociable; sulky; morose
-
sombre; gloomy
a sullen day
-
literary sluggish; slow
a sullen stream
-
obsolete threatening
noun
Related Words
Other Word Forms
- sullenly adverb
- sullenness noun
- unsullen adjective
Etymology
Origin of sullen
First recorded in 1565–75; earlier sollen, solain, from Middle English solein(e), solain “sole, solitary, sullen,” possibly from Vulgar Latin sōlānus (unattested), from Latin sōlus “alone, only, single”
Explanation
A bad-tempered or gloomy person is sullen. Sullen people are down in the dumps. If someone is dark, dour, glum, moody, morose, or sour, they're also sullen. Teenagers are often described as sullen, especially when they're being grumpy and silent. You often hear about "a sullen silence," which is when someone is quiet, but obviously in a lousy mood. If a sullen person is talking, they're probably not saying much, and they might not be doing much beyond grunting. A sullen person isn't much fun to be around.
Vocabulary lists containing sullen
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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A Wrinkle in Time
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 1996, David Keating cast her as Cathleen, the boisterous mother to a sullen teenager played by Jared Leto in “The Last of the High Kings.”
From Salon • Feb. 4, 2026
Those sullen teens trailing their parents toward the taco truck—why the hooded sweatshirts in 84-degree heat and 72-percent humidity?
From Slate • Aug. 13, 2025
His mood was sullen, according to Meridith McGraw, author of Trump in Exile, an account of the former president’s time after leaving the White House.
From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024
Then we noticed that overcast skies turn sultry blooms sullen.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 20, 2024
Salvador’s face had taken on a dark, sullen look, and his eyes flicked constantly to the door.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
