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sullenness |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: sullenness n 1: a gloomy ill-tempered feeling [syn: {moroseness}, {glumness}] 2: a sullen moody resentful disposition [syn: {sulkiness}, {moroseness}, {sourness}]
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