as in sulky
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Dissimilar Words
as in pouting
to silently go about in a bad mood
the toddler would sulk for hours whenever he didn't get his way
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sulking
Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Davis, wearing a particularly Bo Peep-y set of pink panniers, turns the character into a masterpiece of clownery, sulking delightfully and throwing magnificent tantrums while her arrangement of topknots—the hair designer is Robert Pickens—bounces on her head like a prize curly lamb.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
His owner shared a viral TikTok sound over the clip, from when another owner went through the very same thing with her own sulking dog.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Scott Meslow, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Jets Mike McDaniel’s slow, sulking walk off the field was just sad, which about sums up the Dolphins this season.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Still, Brown did not spend his offseason sulking.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 2 Oct. 2024
No one is going to get better by sulking.
—Jim Ingraham, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Adjective
Shift work creates such high stress that it has been called shift sulking.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Davis, wearing a particularly Bo Peep-y set of pink panniers, turns the character into a masterpiece of clownery, sulking delightfully and throwing magnificent tantrums while her arrangement of topknots—the hair designer is Robert Pickens—bounces on her head like a prize curly lamb.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2025
His owner shared a viral TikTok sound over the clip, from when another owner went through the very same thing with her own sulking dog.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
With that goal in mind, Dijkstra has constructed a scheme to ensure that King Radovid stops drinking and sulking over Jaskier and embraces his role as one of the few remaining leaders who can oppose Emhyr’s army.
—Scott Meslow, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
Jets Mike McDaniel’s slow, sulking walk off the field was just sad, which about sums up the Dolphins this season.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Still, Brown did not spend his offseason sulking.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 2 Oct. 2024
No one is going to get better by sulking.
—Jim Ingraham, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sulking
Adjective
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Keep an eye out for chartreuses, browns, and bright sky blues, along with sulky mauves and beiges in a plaster finish.—
Abby Wolner,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Feb. 2026
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After a strange courtship ritual—in which, as a favor to Liveright, Cerf accompanied the writer Theodore Dreiser to an afternoon baseball game that the latter man, bored, sulky, whisked them from around the sixth inning—Cerf took the job.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Wasn’t blaming the losses on the players, wasn’t pouting about it.—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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My introduction to Peters came late last year, when Instagram’s algorithm served me a video of him wearing a baseball cap, primping and pouting for the camera.—
Thomas Chatterton Williams,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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My father was also sullen from the vodka, and after grumbling some would fall asleep on his grungy sleeper berth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Jan. 2026
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And Venter’s fiery and edgy Jessie May is sullen, controlling and cruel.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The men stood frowning at each other and then back at Adi until the one without the gun broke into croaks of laughter.—
Jonathan Miles,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Smiling can actually lift your mood, while frowning can lower it.—
Valerie Monroe,
Allure,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Grejo sank scowling back into his chair as though stung by Adi’s answer.—
Jonathan Miles,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Their head coach, Curt Cignetti, perpetually scowling beneath his 1950s crew cut, is fuel for countless memes.—
Keith O’Brien,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sulking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sulking. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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