sullen
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English solein, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)
- Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
- Prior
- 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
- Prior
- Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:
- Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
- 1671, John Milton, “Book the First”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 497–502, page 27:
- He added not; and Satan bowing low / His gray diſſimulation, diſappear'd / Into thin Air diffuſ'd: for now began / Night with her ſullen wing to double-ſhade / The Deſert; Fowls in thir clay neſts were couch't; / And now wild Beaſts came forth the woods to roam.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:
- Sluggish; slow.
- Sir Walter Scott
- The larger stream was placid, and even sullen, in its course.
- Sir Walter Scott
- (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
- (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
- Dryden
- Such sullen planets at my birth did shine.
- Dryden
- (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
- Tillotson
- Things are as sullen as we are.
- Tillotson
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
having a brooding ill temper
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sulky — see sulky
dismal
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sluggish
NounEdit
sullen (plural sullens)
- (obsolete) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)
- (in the plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
- to have the sullens
- 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, II. i. 139:
- And let them die that age and sullens have;
AnagramsEdit
Middle DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Dutch sulan, from Proto-Germanic *skulaną.
VerbEdit
sullen
- (auxiliary) must, to have to
- (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
- (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.
- (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
- (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
- (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable
InflectionEdit
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
Alternative formsEdit
DescendantsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “sullen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- “sullen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929
