Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Sullenly aloof or withdrawn.
  • adjective Gloomy; dismal.
  • noun A light, open two-wheeled vehicle accommodating only the driver and drawn by one horse, used especially in harness racing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Silently resentful; dogged; morose; sullen; moody; disposed to keep aloof from society, or to repel the friendly advances of others.
  • Stunted, or of backward growth: noting a condition of a plant, sometimes resulting from insect injury.
  • Synonyms Morose, Splenetic, etc. (see sullen); cross, spleenish, perverse, cross-grained, out of humor.
  • noun A light two-wheeled carriage for one person, drawn by one horse, commonly used for trials of speed between trotting-horses.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A light two-wheeled carriage for a single person.
  • adjective Moodly silent; sullen; sour; obstinate; morose; splenetic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective often derogatory silent and withdrawn after being upset
  • noun A low two-wheeled cart, used in harness racing.
  • noun Any carriage seating only the driver.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective depressingly dark
  • noun a light two-wheeled vehicle for one person; drawn by one horse
  • adjective moving slowly
  • adjective sullen or moody

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps alteration of obsolete sulke, sluggish, perhaps ultimately from Old English āsolcen, from past participle of āseolcan, to become sluggish. N., from its having only one seat .]

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Examples

  • My Friends endeavoured to rally me out of this what they called sulky mood; I replied that I could not help it, that I should never again be happy till it was discovered who it was that took my bed-fellow's Money; and that its being lost while I was his bed fellow, certainly threw a sort of suspicion on me, that I could not get over, and to labour under which rendered me completely miserable.

    Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 1 Henry Hunt 1804

  • Baron was not the first choice for the lead (Peter Falk was), but he does have a certain sulky presence as cynical hit man Frank Bono.

    Weekly Mishmash: April 25-May 1 : Scrubbles.net 2010

  • Baron was not the first choice for the lead (Peter Falk was), but he does have a certain sulky presence as cynical hit man Frank Bono.

    2010 May : Scrubbles.net 2010

  • She received it in sulky silence and retired to her room.

    Just Patty 1911

  • Now the little one had often heard this point explained, but she felt small disposition to give up her knowledge at this demand; so she only looked at Miss Asphyxia in sulky silence.

    Oldtown Folks 1869

  • I have a disposition variously described as sulky, sour, sarky, or cynical.

    Old Tin Sorrows Cook, Glen 1989

  • Michael's face had clouded with that gloom which his father would certainly call sulky, and for himself he resented the tone of Michael's reply.

    Michael 1903

  • Now, a sulky is a vehicle built to accommodate two people only, and those two people have to sit fairly close together.

    Outback Marriage, an : a story of Australian life 1902

  • There were many, misled by her petulant lips and watchful eyes, to call her sulky: these did not judge her silence favourably.

    The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay Maurice Hewlett 1892

  • He traveled in a vehicle called a sulky, and I went on horseback.

    Memoirs of Samuel M. Janney, 1881

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