SULKY Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'sulky' different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sulky are crabbed , gloomy , glum , morose , saturnine , sullen , and surly . While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness. // grew sulky after every spat

Q: Where would 'crabbed' be a reasonable alternative to 'sulky'?

The words crabbed and sulky can be used in similar contexts, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner. // the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

Q: When is 'gloomy' a more appropriate choice than 'sulky'?

While the synonyms gloomy and sulky are close in meaning, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness. // a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

Q: When can 'glum' be used instead of 'sulky'?

The words glum and sulky are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness. // a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

Q: How do 'morose' and 'glum' relate to one another, in the sense of 'sulky'?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy. // morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

Q: When would 'saturnine' be a good substitute for 'sulky'?

In some situations, the words saturnine and sulky are roughly equivalent. However, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition. // a saturnine cynic always finding fault

Q: In what contexts can 'sullen' take the place of 'sulky'?

While in some cases nearly identical to sulky , sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable. // remained sullen amid the festivities

Q: When could 'surly' be used to replace 'sulky'?

The synonyms surly and sulky are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner. // a typical surly teenager

sulky

adjective

ˈsəl-kē

Definition of sulky next

as in pouting

given to or displaying a resentful silence and often irritability our teenage daughter turns sulky if we refuse to let her borrow the car

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How is the word sulky different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sulky are crabbed, gloomy, glum, morose, saturnine, sullen, and surly. While all these words mean "showing a forbidding or disagreeable mood," sulky suggests childish resentment expressed in peevish sullenness.

grew sulky after every spat

Where would crabbed be a reasonable alternative to sulky?

The words crabbed and sulky can be used in similar contexts, but crabbed applies to a forbidding morose harshness of manner.

the school's notoriously crabbed headmaster

When is gloomy a more appropriate choice than sulky?

While the synonyms gloomy and sulky are close in meaning, gloomy implies a depression in mood making for seeming sullenness or glumness.

a gloomy mood ushered in by bad news

When can glum be used instead of sulky?

The words glum and sulky are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, glum suggests a silent dispiritedness.

a glum candidate left to ponder a stunning defeat

How do morose and glum relate to one another, in the sense of sulky?

Morose adds to glum an element of bitterness or misanthropy.

morose job seekers who are inured to rejection

When would saturnine be a good substitute for sulky?

In some situations, the words saturnine and sulky are roughly equivalent. However, saturnine describes a heavy forbidding aspect or suggests a bitter disposition.

a saturnine cynic always finding fault

In what contexts can sullen take the place of sulky?

While in some cases nearly identical to sulky, sullen implies a silent ill humor and a refusal to be sociable.

remained sullen amid the festivities

When could surly be used to replace sulky?

The synonyms surly and sulky are sometimes interchangeable, but surly implies gruffness and sullenness of speech or manner.

a typical surly teenager

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of sulky No sniggering jokes now about princely flings and sulky princesses and body doubles. —

Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2024 The sulky postwar formation that Moyn depicts owes a great deal to Christian brooding on original sin, as well as to Sigmund Freud’s then increasingly popular conception of the self as impulsive and destructive. —

Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2023 Austin Butler’s version of Elvis is a sulky pretty boy with smokey-eye makeup, loud silk shirts, and lips the color and texture of bubblegum. —

Katie Rife, Vulture, 24 June 2022 Lestat wastes no time in breaking the guy's neck and offering him up for his sulky boyfriend, but in the end, Louis chooses a cat. —

Sara Netzley, EW.com, 17 Oct. 2022 See All Example Sentences for sulky

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sulky

Adjective

And even in what was a stilted match played in an increasingly irritable atmosphere, Rogers and Tielemans delivered with an assist each.

— Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
This stretch can worsen pain in people with back pain, very tight hamstrings, or irritable nerves.

— Aubrey Bailey, PT, DPT, CHT, Verywell Health, 4 Apr. 2025

Definition of irritable

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sullen

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“Sulky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sulky. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

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Last Updated: 22 Apr 2025 - Updated example sentences

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