Synonyms for sullen
ˈsʌl ənsullen

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 4 votes

1. sullenadjective

   Synonyms:
   morose, sulky

   Antonyms:
   pleased, lighthearted, content, cheerful

2. sullenadjective

   Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.

   Synonyms:
   sulky, morose

   Antonyms:
   cheerful, content, lighthearted, pleased

3. sullenadjective

   Dismal; somber.

   Synonyms:
   sulky, morose

   Antonyms:
   cheerful, pleased, content, lighthearted

4. sullenadjective

   Sluggish; slow.

   Synonyms:
   sulky, morose

   Antonyms:
   cheerful, content, lighthearted, pleased

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. sullen

   The sullen and sulky are discontented and resentful in regard to that against which they are too proud to protest, or consider all protest vain; sullen denotes more of pride, sulky more of resentful obstinacy. The morose are bitterly dissatisfied with the world in general, and disposed to vent their ill nature upon others. The sullen and sulky are for the most part silent; the morose growl out bitter speeches. A surly person is in a state of latent anger, resenting approach as intrusion, and ready to take offense at anything; thus we speak of a surly dog. Sullen and sulky moods may be transitory; one who is morose or surly is commonly so by disposition or habit.

   Synonyms:
   acrimonious, churlish, crabbed, crusty, dogged, gloomy, gruff, ill-humored, ill-natured, morose, severe, snappish, sour, splenetic, sulky, surly

   Antonyms:
   amiable, benignant, bland, complaisant, friendly, genial, gentle, good-natured, indulgent, kind, loving, mild, pleasant, sympathetic, tender

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.7 / 3 votes

1. sullen

   Synonyms:
   gloomy, heavy, dismal, foreboding, sulky, moody, lowering, cheerless

   Antonyms:
   bright, light, cheerful, favorable, genial, kindly, glad, gladsome, blithe

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.8 / 48 votes

1. dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullenadjective

   showing a brooding ill humor

   "a dark scowl"; "the proverbially dour New England Puritan"; "a glum, hopeless shrug"; "he sat in moody silence"; "a morose and unsociable manner"; "a saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius"- Bruce Bliven; "a sour temper"; "a sullen crowd"

   Synonyms:
   pertinacious, heavy, forbidding, glum, dogged, dark, moody, non-white, temperamental, threatening, coloured, disconsolate, dark-skinned, black, gloomy, drear, benighted, off, blue, glowering, obscure, sour, sinister, turned, grim, saturnine, tenacious, off-key, dour, false, unyielding, sorry, drab, dingy, dreary, dismal, persistent, lowering, rancid, morose

   Antonyms:
   good-natured, clear

2. heavy, lowering, sullen, threateningadjective

   darkened by clouds

   "a heavy sky"

   Synonyms:
   ominous, laboured, laborious, overweight, toilsome, intemperate, forbidding, with child(p), sound, dark, wakeless, dense, grueling, dour, heavy(p), threatening, grave, cloggy, heavy(a), large(p), baleful, clayey, enceinte, minatory, menacing, grievous, glowering, fleshy, sour, weighed down, hard, weighty, impenetrable, gruelling, expectant, lumbering, ponderous, backbreaking, sonorous, great(p), profound, operose, saturnine, heavy, arduous, big(a), labored, moody, morose, punishing, glum, gravid, big(p), minacious, lowering, leaden, sinister

   Antonyms:
   clear, good-natured

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. farouche

   Submitted by rinat on August 15, 2019  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sullenadjective

   Synonyms:
   cross, morose, SULKY

2. sullenadjective

   Synonyms:
   gloomy, dismal, sombre, dark, funereal, mournful

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sullenadjective

   Synonyms:
   morose, unamiable, sulky, intractable

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How to use sullen in a sentence?

1. Lotte Akiko Nielsen:

   He came across as a sullen, scary and Terminator-ish type.

2. Willa Cather, My Antonia:

   Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

3. Willa Cather:

   Winter lies too long in country towns hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.

4. Claude T. Bissell:

   I prefer complexity to certainty, cheerful mysteries to sullen facts.

5. Percy Bysshe Shelley:

   Rough wind, that moanest loudGrief too sad for songWild wind, when sullen cloudKnells all the night longSad storm, whose tears are vain,Bare woods, whose branches strain,Deep caves and dreary main, - Wail, for the world's wrong