surly

[ sur-lee ]
/ ˈsɜr li /

adjective, sur·li·er, sur·li·est.

churlishly rude or bad-tempered: a surly waiter.
unfriendly or hostile; menacingly irritable: a surly old lion.
dark or dismal; menacing; threatening: a surly sky.
Obsolete. lordly; arrogant.

Origin of surly

1560–70; spelling variant of obsolete sirly lordly, arrogant, equivalent to sir + -ly

synonym study for surly

Glum, morose, sullen, dour, surly all are adjectives describing a gloomy, unsociable attitude. Glum describes a depressed, spiritless condition or manner, usually temporary rather than habitual: a glum shrug of the shoulders; a glum, hopeless look in his eye. Morose, which adds to glum a sense of bitterness, implies a habitual and pervasive gloominess: a sour, morose manner; morose withdrawal from human contact. Sullen usually implies reluctance or refusal to speak accompanied by glowering looks expressing anger or a sense of injury: a sullen manner, silence, look. Dour refers to a stern and forbidding aspect, stony and unresponsive: dour rejection of friendly overtures. Surly implies gruffness of speech and manner, usually accompanied by an air of injury and ill temper: a surly reply.

OTHER WORDS FROM surly

Example sentences from the Web for surly

British Dictionary definitions for surly

surly
/ (ˈsɜːlɪ) /

adjective -lier or -liest

sullenly ill-tempered or rude
(of an animal) ill-tempered or refractory
dismal
obsolete arrogant

Derived forms of surly

surlily, adverb surliness, noun

Word Origin for surly

C16: from obsolete sirly haughty; see sir