SULLENS

Noun

sullens

plural of sullen

Anagrams

• unsells

Source: Wiktionary


SULLEN

Sul"len, a. Etym: [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.

– 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.

Sul"len, n.

1. One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

2. pl.

Definition: Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness; as, to have the sullens. [Obs.] Shak.

Sul"len, v. t.

Definition: To make sullen or sluggish. [Obs.] Sullens the whole body with . . . laziness. Feltham.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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