# sullen
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English solein, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: sŭlʹən, IPA: /ˈsʌlən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌlən
* Hyphenation: sul‧len

### Adjective

sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)
* Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
    Synonyms: sulky, morose, broody; see also Thesaurus:sullen
    Antonyms: cheerful, content, lighthearted, pleased
** 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis:Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, / For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; / Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets, / ‘Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;
** 1709, Matthew Prior, Pleasure:And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.
** 2007, Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring.
    Sullen and bored the kids stay / And in this way wish away each day
* Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
    Synonyms: forlorn, melancholy; see also Thesaurus:cheerless, Thesaurus:sad
    a sullen atmosphere
** c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], line 88:Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
** 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 27, lines 497–502:He added not; and Satan bowing low / His gray diſſimulation, diſappear'd / Into thin Air diffuſ'd: for now began / Night with her ſullen wing to double-ſhade / The Deſert; Fowls in thir clay neſts were couch't; / And now wild Beaſts came forth the woods to roam.
** 1714, Alexander Pope, “Canto 4”, in The Rape of the Lock:No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows, / The dreaded East is all the wind that blows.
* Sluggish; slow.
    Synonyms: ponderous, stately; see also Thesaurus:slow
** 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:The larger [stream] was placid, and even sullen, in its course.
** 1830, Ray Palmer (lyrics and music), “My Faith Looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary”:When ends life's transient dream, / when death’s cold, sullen stream / shall o'er me roll,
* (Can we verify this sense?) (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
    Synonyms: forlorn, lonesome
** 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowles, lines 606–607:I recche not how longe that ye stryve; / Lat ech of hem be soleyn al hir lyve,
** 1390, John Gower, Confessio Amantis‎, lines 133–136:That ofte, whanne I scholde pleie, / It makth me drawe out of the weie / In soulein place be miselve, / As doth a labourer to delve,
** c. 1405, Couldrette, The Romans of Partenay‎, lines 5431–5432:Where ye shall finde this solain auenture, / Full strang vnto sight of ech creature
* (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
    Synonyms: malevolent, ominous; see also Thesaurus:evil, Thesaurus:ominous
** 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):Such sullen planets at my birth did shine, / They threaten every Fortune mixt with mine.
** 1835, John Greenleaf Whittier, Mogg Megone:she meets again / The savage murderer's sullen gaze,
* (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
    Synonyms: inflexible, persistent; see also Thesaurus:obstinate
** a. 1694, John Tillotson, Imprudence of Atheism:Things are as sullen as we are, and will be what they are whatever we think of them.

#### Translations
### Noun

sullen (plural sullens)
* (archaic) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
    Synonyms: loner, shut-in; see also Thesaurus:recluse
** c. 1377, William Langland, Piers Plowman, lines 7830–7835:He sit neither with seint Johan, / Symond ne Jude, / Ne with maydenes ne with martires, / Confessours ne wydewes; / But by hymself as a soleyn, / And served on erthe.
* (in the plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
    Synonyms: glumps, mope
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 2, scene 1], line 139:And let them die that age and sullens have;
** 1632, Philip Massinger, “Act III. Scene IV.”, in The Emperor of the East:If she be not sick of the sullens, I see not the least infirmity in her.
** 1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 7, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:[M]y brother […] charged my desire of being excused coming down to sullens, because a certain person had been spoken against, upon whom, as he supposed, my fancy ran.

### Verb

sullen (third-person singular simple present sullens, present participle sullening, simple past and past participle sullened)
* (obsolete) To make sullen.
** c. 1620, Owen Feltham, “XLVIII. Of Idleness.”, in Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political; republished as Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political, London: Whittaker & Co, 1840, page 128:The idle man is like the dumb jack in a virginal: while all the other dance out a winning music, this, like a member out of joint, sullens the whole body, with an ill disturbing laziness.

### Anagrams

* unsell

## Middle Dutch
### Etymology

From Old Dutch sulan.

### Verb

sullen
* (auxiliary) must, to have to
* (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
* (auxiliary) will, shall, be going to (future tense)
** 1249, Schepenbrief van Bochoute, Velzeke, eastern Flanders:Descepenen van bochouta quedden alle degene die dese lettren sien selen i(n) onsen here.The aldermen of Bochoute address all who will see this letter by our lord.
* (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
* (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
* (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable

#### Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

#### Alternative forms

* suelen
* sēlen
* sellen
* sōlen
* sollen

#### Descendants

* Dutch: zullen
** Afrikaans: sal
** Jersey Dutch: zal
** Negerhollands: sa, sal
** Skepi Creole Dutch: sa
* Limburgish: zölle, zólle

#### Further reading

* “sullen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
* Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “sullen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

## Middle English
### Verb

sullen
* (South West Midlands) Alternative form of sellen

## Northern Sami
### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Verb

sūllen
* first-person singular past indicative of suollit