Synonyms of sulky

sulky

adjective

ˈsəl-kē 

as in pouting

given to or displaying a resentful silence and often irritability

our teenage daughter turns sulky if we refuse to let her borrow the car

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pouting
• irritable
• sullen
• pouty
• surly
• glum
• brooding
• mopey
• morose
• petulant
• dour
• peevish
• cross
• grumpy
• sensitive
• irascible
• snappish
• waspish
• grouchy
• gloomy
• disagreeable
• pettish
• crotchety
• testy
• crabby
• choleric
• cranky
• snarky
• raspy
• cantankerous
• ornery
• dyspeptic
• snippy
• short-tempered
• bilious
• tetchy
• huffy
• ill-tempered
• temperamental
• ratty
• quick-tempered
• perverse
• moping
• prickly
• ill-humored
• ill-natured
• snappy
• touchy
• snippety
• bearish
• thin-skinned

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cheerful
• sociable
• cheery
• good-natured
• sunny
• perky
• carefree
• easygoing
• good-tempered
• relaxed
• good-humored
• gladsome
• happy-go-lucky

Synonym Chooser

How is the word sulky different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sulky are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

Where would crabbed be a reasonable alternative to sulky?

The words crabbed and sulky can be used in similar contexts, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than sulky?

While the synonyms gloomy and sulky are close in meaning, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When can glum be used instead of sulky?

The words glum and sulky are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

How do morose and glum relate to one another, in the sense of sulky?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When would saturnine be a good substitute for sulky?

In some situations, the words saturnine and sulky are roughly equivalent. However, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

In what contexts can sullen take the place of sulky?

While in some cases nearly identical to sulky, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When could surly be used to replace sulky?

The synonyms surly and sulky are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sulky

And at the play’s pinnacle, Stewart, an extraordinary trans actress, takes the show back from the sulky boys by performing a soft-limbed voguing solo, plunging to the floor as her braids twirl around her. —Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 26 June 2025

Playing Dawn Summers, Trachtenberg joined the show in 2000, as Buffy's younger sister, who was at times bratty, sulky, and a bit of a klutz — but nonetheless offered a new and exciting sibling dynamic for the show to explore. —Shania Russell, EW.com, 26 Feb. 2025

Horse race At the harness racing week on the Freehold Raceway in New Jersey: a reverse race with the sulky fixed in front of the horse - 1930. —Contessa Brewer, CNBC, 31 Dec. 2024

Still, certain sensitivities might need to be respected as the excitable Gemini Moon shoves sulky Saturn. —Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2024