1
a
: gloomily or resentfully silent or repressed
a sullen crowd
b
: suggesting a sullen state : lowering
a sullen countenance
2
: dull or somber in sound or color
4
: moving sluggishly
a sullen river
sullenly
adverb
Synonyms
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Examples of sullen in a Sentence
Economy got you down? Provocateur Ehrenreich … says: Don't try cheering yourself up. … Her sharp, funny critique finds that sunny types don't necessarily live longer or better than grumps. Besides, can you really get rid of all negativity in your life? "It is not so easy," she notes, "to abandon the whiny toddler or the sullen teenager."
—
Richard Eisenberg, People, 26 Oct. 2009
The skies grew sullen and the air chillier, but it wasn't until the third day that the snow came.
—Bill Bryson, A Walk In The Woods, 1999
Despite angry alumni calls and sullen students protests—including the cancellation of all fraternity parties at the school's annual Winter Carnival—the faculty unanimously voted in favor of the college's goal to make fraternities and sororities substantially coed, along with developing new social alternatives for its 4,300 undergraduates.
—Anita Hamilton, Time, 1 Mar. 1999
sullen skies that matched our mood on the day of the funeral
sullen and bored at his in-laws' house, he couldn't wait for the holidays to end
Richard Eisenberg, People, 26 Oct. 2009
The skies grew sullen and the air chillier, but it wasn't until the third day that the snow came.
—Bill Bryson, A Walk In The Woods, 1999
Despite angry alumni calls and sullen students protests—including the cancellation of all fraternity parties at the school's annual Winter Carnival—the faculty unanimously voted in favor of the college's goal to make fraternities and sororities substantially coed, along with developing new social alternatives for its 4,300 undergraduates.
—Anita Hamilton, Time, 1 Mar. 1999
sullen skies that matched our mood on the day of the funeral
sullen and bored at his in-laws' house, he couldn't wait for the holidays to end
Recent Examples on the Web
The New Daughter has an interesting, sullen mood and looks fantastic, but that just further accentuates how out of place Costner seems.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 1 July 2024
One of the migrants looks at the camera with sullen eyes and a rugged beard.
—Kunal Sehgal, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
In that, Democrats mindful of their own fortunes are suddenly less sullen about the slog toward November’s Election Day.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 19 July 2024
Through this ceremony of affirmation, a divided party sought to turn the page and reassert control over a sullen society.
—Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2019
See all Example Sentences for sullen 
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.
Will Leitch, Vulture, 1 July 2024
One of the migrants looks at the camera with sullen eyes and a rugged beard.
—Kunal Sehgal, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
In that, Democrats mindful of their own fortunes are suddenly less sullen about the slog toward November’s Election Day.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 19 July 2024
Through this ceremony of affirmation, a divided party sought to turn the page and reassert control over a sullen society.
—Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2019
See all Example Sentences for sullen
Dictionary Entries Near sullen
Cite this Entry
“Sullen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sullen. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sullen
adjective
sul·len
ˈsəl-ən 
1
a
: gloomily or resentfully silent : not sociable
b
: suggesting a sullen state
sullen refusal
2
: dull in sound or color
3
: dismal sense 1, gloomy
a sullen sky
sullenly
adverb
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share