SULLENLY Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

sullenly

adverb

Definition of sullenly

as in glumly

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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 sullenly The mother laughed, which made the girl slouched sullenly on her Icelandic glance back, and her mother brushed a hand over her face. — Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026 Take, for example, Keanu Reeves, who was memeified after a photo of the actor sullenly eating a sandwich went viral. — Ben Pettis, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026 Like a fisherman left empty-handed after a heavy pull at her line, the woman sullenly took Sam’s picture. — Nora Deligter, Curbed, 6 Mar. 2026 Instead, Republican staffers sullenly reported to messaging meetings to talk about immigration. — Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sullenly

Adverb

If exceeding delivery targets fails to spark a rally, meeting or slightly beating bottom-line earnings will likely be greeted glumly by Wall Street.

— Michael Khouw, CNBC, 20 July 2026
Three of the four arrived soberly dressed, one of them, Hodgkin, in a black suit, folded his arms and stared glumly ahead.

— Robin Muir, Vogue, 12 June 2026

Definition of glumly

Adverb

The shattered standing forlornly by the podium at the end of a draining tournament, hearts broken, bodies exhausted, having to watch as the opposition receive the reward that England were agonisingly close to.

— Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 19 July 2026
Adaptations of the Odyssey are always fleshy affairs, with half-naked men lying happily or forlornly on beaches.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

Definition of forlornly

Adverb

Museums abhor windows, so the building has all the approachability of a medieval keep, as gloomily defensive as the park is welcoming.

— Justin Davidson, Curbed, 4 June 2026
In Time Regained, the concluding volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, an older version of the narrator gloomily decides to attend a gathering at the Guermantes’ mansion.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026

Definition of gloomily

Adverb

The project uses horror and darkly comic genre elements to approach the psychological pressures of motherhood, extending Urban’s interest in personal experience as a route into broader social and political terrain.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
On is a darkly comedic film exploring family, loneliness and the complicated ways people reconnect after years of emotional distance.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of darkly

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sullen

sullenly

sullenness

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“Sullenly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sullenly. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of sullenly

adverb

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