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Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of sullen are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sulky, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

In what contexts can crabbed take the place of sullen?

While the synonyms crabbed and sullen are close in meaning, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When would gloomy be a good substitute for sullen?

Although the words gloomy and sullen have much in common, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When could glum be used to replace sullen?

In some situations, the words glum and sullen are roughly equivalent. However, 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 sullen?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When might saturnine be a better fit than sullen?

The meanings of saturnine and sullen largely overlap; however, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When is it sensible to use sulky instead of sullen?

The synonyms sulky and sullen are sometimes interchangeable, but sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

When can surly be used instead of sullen?

While in some cases nearly identical to sullen, surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sullen Ramsey is reprising their role as Ellie, the sullen American teenager who is immune to the cordyceps fungus turning everyone else into zombies and who may, therefore, hold the key to humanity’s rescue. Zing Tsjeng, Vogue, 11 Apr. 2025 The collection of slab-like columns by Derek McLane, lit in sickly, sullen colors by Natasha Katz, could be anywhere. Jesse Green, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025 My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room. Jann Blackstone, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2025 In the film, Adèle Haenel plays Héloïse, a sullen 18th-century French daughter of privilege, and Noémie Merlant plays Marianne, the adventurous artist hired to paint her. Emma Specter, Vogue, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sullen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sullen
Adjective
  • That’s the question writer-director Ari Aster’s somber comedy-Western Eddington, playing in competition here at the Cannes Film Festival, appears to be asking.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 May 2025
  • Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics.
    Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
Adjective
  • The latest Email Threat Trends Report from VIPRE paints a bleak picture.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
  • Related article Putin just called Trump’s bluff on Ukraine, with the Russian art of the ‘no’ deal Ukraine in 2025 is a bleak prospect.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • It is believed to reduce pain and inflammation, and has been used for treatment of back pain, high blood pressure, arthritis, migraines, and irritable bowel disease.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 4 Apr. 2025
  • And even in what was a stilted match played in an increasingly irritable atmosphere, Rogers and Tielemans delivered with an assist each.
    Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Similarly, a cat was sent to a shelter after 10 years in a home after his owner passed away, leaving him lonely and searching for a new home.
    Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
  • Health officials have said the United States is facing a mental health crisis, and in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 adults around the world reported feeling fairly or very lonely.
    Madeline Holcombe, CNN Money, 17 May 2025
Adjective
  • 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
Adjective
  • Weaker but still significant effects were observed in those without depressive symptoms.
    Paul McClure May 14, New Atlas, 14 May 2025
  • This makes sense because a recent study found that 59% of yoga participants had reduced depressive symptoms after practicing heated yoga weekly for just 8 weeks.
    Dominique Fluker, Essence, 9 May 2025
Adjective
  • Requests are taken for the next amendment, and a surly, very cool Matt (Goggins) has a one-word answer: guns.
    EW.com, EW.com, 11 May 2025
  • Only this time, the cheerleader and the zombie are camp counselors for a group of surly vampires.
    Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Suddenly, somebody invented a machine and offered them a new deal: Work in this stinky dark factory or starve.
    Karim Doumar, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2025
  • All Fair remembers of that dark time in her life was having ongoing headaches, throwing up and struggling with her balance.
    Deborah Laverty, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sullen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sullen. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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