1
as in pouting
given to or displaying a resentful silence and often irritability
went about his chores in a surly huff, totally annoyed that he was stuck at home on this beautiful Saturday
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2
as in irritable
having or showing a habitually bad temper
the surly receptionist told us we'd have to wait outside in the rain
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Recent Examples of surly
This is exactly the productive, surly, still-in-his-prime player this team needs down the middle.
—
Scott Powers, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Lars was originally a surly teen of Beach City, but he was eventually abducted to the Gem Homeworld.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 June 2025
This is because, little under a year after being handed a landslide majority by the U.K. electorate, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is deeply unpopular and thrashing around for ways to appease a surly and resentful public.
—Ian King, CNBC, 11 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for surly
Scott Powers, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Lars was originally a surly teen of Beach City, but he was eventually abducted to the Gem Homeworld.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 12 June 2025
This is because, little under a year after being handed a landslide majority by the U.K. electorate, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is deeply unpopular and thrashing around for ways to appease a surly and resentful public.
—Ian King, CNBC, 11 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for surly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surly
Adjective
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Instead, Helen is allowed to be irritable and anti-social, chain-smoking and snappish, without the filmmaker casting judgment.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
-
If you are rushed or irritable, say so.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The President is a sullen bore, but Servillo’s performance is always a hair less moribund than the movie around it, and held tight by the sincerity of his ambivalence.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
27 Aug. 2025
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Until the UFOs arrive, the sullen grandeur of OK Computer will have to suffice for Yorke, and the rest of us, too.—
EW Staff Published,
EW.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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One unbearable sequence has Chiang coming back angry in the middle of the day and suddenly raping Chuan in their bedroom.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
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In late July, centrist independent US Senator Angus King released a startlingly angry statement.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Founder Max Siegelman drew upon his family’s harness racing roots thanks to the boarding and teaching facility for the sport involving the powerful animal, a sulky and human direction that dates to the 1800s in the US.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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Harness racing was his first love, and during the next half-century, his name became synonymous with the sulky sport in Chicagoland.—
Neil Milbert,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Tudyk played Sonny, a robot who helps the cantankerous detective uncover the truth behind his creator's death.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
12 Aug. 2025
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Advertisement Johnson anticipates more challenges from his cantankerous colleagues.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Their brows are furrowed, their mouths are pouty, their faces are twisted into ever-more over-the-top expressions of longing and ambivalence.—
Ellen Cushing,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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That ornery cleric was Moqtada al-Sadr, the son of Mohammad Sadiq al-Sadr, a grand ayatollah assassinated almost certainly by Saddam’s order in 1999.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
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Their aggressive, ornery, and unpredictable nature has earned them the nickname Black Death.—
Kris Millgate,
Outdoor Life,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Over the weekend, reports emerged that the higher tariffs followed a disagreeable Thursday phone call between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Trump — which Swiss officials rejected, according to Reuters.—
Sophie Kiderlin,Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
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Trump and his supporters prefer a happy history, a pleasant history that arouses patriotism by overlooking disagreeable people and despicable events that sully the nation’s reputation and mar the magnificence of the American story.—
William C. Hine,
Twin Cities,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surly. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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