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sullen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology

From Middle English solein, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: sŭlʹən, IPA(key): /ˈsʌlən/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌlən
  • Hyphenation: sul‧len

Adjective

sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)

  1. Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
    Synonyms: sulky, morose, broody; see also Thesaurus:sullen
    Antonyms: cheerful, content, lighthearted, pleased
    • 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis:
      Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, / For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; / Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets, / ‘Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;
    • 1709, Matthew Prior, Pleasure:
      And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.
    • 2007, Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring.
      Sullen and bored the kids stay / And in this way wish away each day
  2. Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
    Synonyms: forlorn, melancholy; see also Thesaurus:cheerless, Thesaurus:sad
    a sullen atmosphere
  3. Sluggish; slow.
    Synonyms: ponderous, stately; see also Thesaurus:slow
  4. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
    Synonyms: forlorn, lonesome
    • 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowles, lines 606–607:
      I recche not how longe that ye stryve; / Lat ech of hem be soleyn al hir lyve,
    • 1390, John Gower, Confessio Amantis‎, lines 133–136:
      That ofte, whanne I scholde pleie, / It makth me drawe out of the weie / In soulein place be miselve, / As doth a labourer to delve,
    • c. 1405, Couldrette, The Romans of Partenay‎, lines 5431–5432:
      Where ye shall finde this solain auenture, / Full strang vnto sight of ech creature
  5. (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
    Synonyms: malevolent, ominous; see also Thesaurus:evil, Thesaurus:ominous
  6. (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
    Synonyms: inflexible, persistent; see also Thesaurus:obstinate
    • a. 1694, John Tillotson, Imprudence of Atheism:
      Things are as sullen as we are, and will be what they are whatever we think of them.

Translations

Noun

sullen (plural sullens)

  1. (archaic) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
    Synonyms: loner, shut-in; see also Thesaurus:recluse
    • c. 1377, William Langland, Piers Plowman, lines 7830–7835:
      He sit neither with seint Johan, / Symond ne Jude, / Ne with maydenes ne with martires, / Confessours ne wydewes; / But by hymself as a soleyn, / And served on erthe.
  2. (in the plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
    Synonyms: glumps, mope

Verb

sullen (third-person singular simple present sullens, present participle sullening, simple past and past participle sullened)

  1. (obsolete) To make sullen.
    • c. 1620, Owen Feltham, “XLVIII. Of Idleness.”, in Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political; republished as Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political, London: Whittaker & Co, 1840, page 128:
      The idle man is like the dumb jack in a virginal: while all the other dance out a winning music, this, like a member out of joint, sullens the whole body, with an ill disturbing laziness.

Anagrams

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sulan.

Verb

sullen

  1. (auxiliary) must, to have to
  2. (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
  3. (auxiliary) will, shall, be going to (future tense)
    • 1249, Schepenbrief van Bochoute, Velzeke, eastern Flanders:
      Descepenen van bochouta quedden alle degene die dese lettren sien selen i(n) onsen here.
      The aldermen of Bochoute address all who will see this letter by our lord.
  4. (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
  5. (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
  6. (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

Descendants

  • Dutch: zullen
    • Afrikaans: sal
    • Jersey Dutch: zal
    • Negerhollands: sa, sal
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: sa
  • Limburgish: zölle, zólle

Further reading

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Middle English

Verb

sullen

  1. (South West Midlands) alternative form of sellen

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Verb

sūllen

  1. first-person singular past indicative of suollit

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