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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|