sullen
1
5.6
- adjective
- /ˈsʌlən/
:
sombrío
- A deep peal of thunder went rolling and tumbling down the heavens and lost itself in sullen rumblings in the distance.
- sullen sky
- sullen clouds
- sullen face
Examples
-
Her face had filled out, but her eyes were sullen and grim as on the first day he met her.
Fiction book (1998) -
The sky to the west hulked sullen; behind him were smears of tinselly orange shot through with blinding streaks.
Fiction book (1997) -
The sky was still gray and sullen.
Fiction book (1999) -
Damp in the summer, dark in the winter, the apartment made her sullen.
Fiction book (1996) -
The summer garden had been closed; the interior cafe was filled with sullen old men.
Fiction book (1996) -
Now the rain seems a sullen silver, the color of broken solitude and women who stand at windows alone.
Fiction book (1993) -
Fat, greasy drops of black rain fell from a low, menacing overcast, and there was a sullen, red glow flickering on the bottom of the clouds off to the north.
Fiction book (1994) -
Gerald stood under the E.R. awning, beneath the bruised and sullen sky, the familiar stink of cigarette smoke somehow comforting in his nostrils.
Fiction book (1998) -
Mount Royal, "crouched, black and sullen," overlooks a harbour that is "filled with volumes of smoke, purple and black, wreathing and sidling eastwards" (61).
Academic text (2013) -
The sky was sullen and overcast, casting a shadow over the entire landscape.
Synonyms
377
1.0
Feeling gloomy and sad
363
4.5
Causing strong sadness or a feeling of burden
62
4.5
Making you feel sad and hopeless
44
3.8
A gloomy, boring time that makes you feel sad or tired
23
4.1
Looking or feeling sad and quiet
16
2.3
Dark and not well lit so a place feels sad
16
4.9
A place that is dark and hard to see because of low light or fog
15
7.9
Being quiet and unhappy and showing little interest in others
8
6.2
Having a quiet, serious mood that feels dark
8
5.0
Cold wet weather that feels unpleasant
4
4.2
Dark and dull in color, not bright
3
3.7
Dark clouds in the sky that make rain or a storm seem likely
3
8.0
Being serious and quiet because of deep thought
2
5.5
Not bright or warm and making people feel sad
1
2.0
A little less light in color than usual
1
9.9
A dull, cold, and depressing place or scene
1
9.9
Dark and gloomy in a way that makes you feel uncertain or afraid
Dark and threatening because of low clouds
Dark and sad in a way that makes you feel unhappy
Dark cloudy weather or a sad heavy mood
Antonyms
How Gloomy
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word sullen comes from the same old idea of 'gloomy' or 'silent' and was used for faces and for weather that looked dark. So a sullen sky feels heavy and sad, which is why we use the word for dark, threatening clouds.