sullen
adjective
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Definition of sullen
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Other Words from sullen
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noun
Synonyms & Antonyms for sullen
Synonyms
black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
Antonyms
bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny
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Examples of sullen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cheerful smiles became sullen expressions on the faces of crestfallen scientists and engineers. — Sanjay Kumar, Science | AAAS, "'Failure is part of the game': Indian spacecraft presumed lost after moon landing attempt," 7 Sep. 2019 In the waiting room a sullen teenage girl is frowning at her phone while her little brother drums the back of his heels against his seat. — Summer Block, Longreads, "Better Late," 23 Aug. 2019 Cilantro-lime dressing gave the wheel a sullen wet sheen, with a lingering aftertaste that reminded me of soy sauce. — Mike Sutter, ExpressNews.com, "Review: Aldaco’s Mexican Cuisine restaurant is mid-level Mexican food in San Antonio’s Stone Oak," 22 Aug. 2019 Tony, on the other hand, only grew more sullen with each hit. — Chris Rush, Harper's magazine, "Love and Acid," 19 Aug. 2019 Another border patrolman, a fat sullen one who looked Mexican-American, spied down upon us. — Colin Barrett, Harper's magazine, "“Just Keep Going North”," 5 July 2019 So rather than risk being publicly shamed, millions of Americans lapse into a sullen silence. — John Kass, Twin Cities, "John Kass: Race card loses its sting as it’s overused," 29 July 2019 Along with his sullen young assistant, Fiennes visits the asylums of the West Coast performing lobotomies and electric shock therapy. — Los Angeles Times, "Classic Hollywood: Jeff Goldblum’s long, strange Hollywood journey," 25 July 2019 Christopher Smith’s photographs are technically self-portraits, though each evokes someone else: a sullen detective, a naked gladiator, a flapper, an inmate, a sword swallower, a cowboy, a choirboy, a corpse. — Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, "A Photographer’s Elaborate Transformations in His Childhood Bedroom," 18 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sullen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.