as in sulkiness
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Recent Examples of surliness
The Dolphins knew in the spring that Jalen Ramsey’s tardiness and surliness did not fit the culture that the organization wanted to build.
—
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surliness
Noun
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In an obvious display of childish petulance, a significant number of Democratic representatives in Texas abandoned their jobs and responsibilities to the voters by fleeing to Illinois.—
For the Carroll County Times,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Aug. 2025
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Jimmy Butler did not have to consider the fallout of petulance because he already was known as petulant.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The irritability or walking into a room only to forget why seconds later.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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This could look like mood swings, irritability, hostility, feelings of depression, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm.—
Ashleigh N. DeLuca,
Parents,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At one point, her crankiness about being underappreciated for her domestic efforts is blamed, without irony, on her period.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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There were no fights, not even a sense of testiness, at the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers’ joint practice Thursday.—
Vic Tafur,
New York Times,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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At the same time, observers in Washington and Seoul have become hopeful that growing public support in South Korea for developing an independent nuclear deterrent might provide Beijing with another compelling reason to renew its efforts to restrain the North’s belligerence.—
SHUXIAN LUO,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Aug. 2025
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Its outcome defines European security and Chinese belligerence over the next decade.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surliness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surliness. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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