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Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of surly are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sulky, and sullen. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

When is it sensible to use crabbed instead of surly?

While in some cases nearly identical to surly, crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than surly?

The words gloomy and surly are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When might glum be a better fit than surly?

The synonyms glum and surly are sometimes interchangeable, but 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 surly?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When could saturnine be used to replace surly?

While the synonyms saturnine and surly are close in meaning, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

When can sulky be used instead of surly?

The meanings of sulky and surly largely overlap; however, sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

In what contexts can sullen take the place of surly?

In some situations, the words sullen and surly are roughly equivalent. However, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

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 surly The third reason to slip the surly bonds of Earth is that our air is extremely good at shielding us from many wavelengths of light our eyes cannot see. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 29 May 2025 Now, Stefani realizes that her own family members — including her surly teen brother, Charlie (Teo Briones), and her cousins Erik (Richard Harmon), Julia (Anna Lore), and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) — are next in line. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 May 2025 Requests are taken for the next amendment, and a surly, very cool Matt (Goggins) has a one-word answer: guns. 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 See All Example Sentences for surly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surly
Adjective
  • Despite its self-destructive proclivities, the irritable giant has managed to make, and keep, a friend.
    Robin George Andrews, New York Times, 22 July 2025
  • Determined to make a clean SPF, Brown says a chemical formula was out of the question (chemical sunscreens are often thought to be unsafe for the coral reef and irritable to sensitive skin types).
    Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 July 2025
Adjective
  • The reflection of my withered face, with deep sullen eyes, blurs behind raindrops sliding down the glass.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 July 2025
  • My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room.
    Jann Blackstone, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2025
Adjective
  • Hastings said he’s heard from people angry about State Farm’s rates.
    Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2025
  • JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in America, has been angry for years about being forced to hand over customer data to fintech companies for free.
    Jeff Kauflin, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
Adjective
  • Just picture it: a Bond car chase reimagined as a slow, sulky glide through fog and existential dread.
    Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 28 June 2025
  • 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
Adjective
  • The story isn't linear and sometimes the character's main motivation can be reduced to the moodiness of cantankerous old men.
    Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
  • This isn’t just the opinion of some cantankerous Boomers who want those pesky Gen-Z kids to turn down their loud music and get off the lawn; globally, study after study has demonstrated that Gen-Z has historically low financial literacy levels.
    Benjamin van der Lande, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • The passengers include several other mountain trekkers, among them an American professor (Bernard Curry) and his teenage daughter, Starr (Grace O’Sullivan), the latter’s nature instantly signified by her pouty demeanor and inability to put away her cell phone.
    Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 26 June 2025
  • While the Pocket Blush is known for delivering gorgeous flushed cheeks in seconds, the Peptide Lip Shape is a recent favorite for perfectly contoured pouty lips.
    Kleigh Balugo, StyleCaster, 12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • That is, until an ornery cow named Daisy kicks over a lantern and ignites a fire that quickly engulfs the Windy City.
    EW Staff Published, EW.com, 3 July 2025
  • The outcome is a fire ant that has the strength and ornery disposition of the fiercer red fire ant with the better tolerance of colder temperatures found in black fire ants.
    Gareth McGrath, USA Today, 28 June 2025
Adjective
  • Marina’s imperious grandmother (Marina Troncoso) is a disagreeable snob, more concerned with getting a mani-pedi or keeping leaves out of her precious swimming pool than getting to know her granddaughter.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Befriending Cressida Cowper is a respectable exercise in recognizing biases, but the pair’s interactions are as disagreeable as those bangs.
    Zoe Haylock, Vulture, 16 May 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Surly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surly. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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