Definitions

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

  • adjective Sullenly ill-humored; gruff.
  • adjective Threatening, as of weather conditions; ominous.
  • adjective Obsolete Arrogant; domineering.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sour in nature or disposition; morose; crabbed; churlish; ill-natured; cross and rude: as, a surly fellow; a surly dog.
  • Arrogant; haughty.
  • Rough; dark; tempestuous; gloomy; dismal.
  • Synonyms Cross, crusty, snappish, uncivil.

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

  • adjective obsolete Arrogant; haughty.
  • adjective Gloomily morose; ill-natured, abrupt, and rude; severe; sour; crabbed; rough; sullen; gloomy.
  • adjective Rough; dark; tempestuous.

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

  • adjective obsolete Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.
  • adjective Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
  • adjective Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
  • adverb obsolete In an arrogant or supercilious manner.

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

  • adjective inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace

Etymologies

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

[Middle English sirly, masterful, lordly, from sir, lord; see sir.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Sixteenth-century alteration of sirly, from sir + -ly.

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Examples

  • In no way a cuddly cowboy Woody, Josh Brolin as the title surly supernatural gunslinger is a very different kind of settler dodging bullets across the wild west, or rather deep south, settling old scores and new ones that may not have even arrived,

    NewsBlaze.com Current News - Top Stories 2010

  • Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

  • Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

  • Sam swiped his hands through the tight curls on his head, his expression surly.

    Family Blessings Fern Michaels 2004

  • * I hadn't spent a considerable amount of time around this team since the summer of 2007, when a certain surly left fielder was taking aim at the all-time home run record, and let's suffice it to say the clubhouse is very different now.

    The surprising San Francisco Giants Dave Sheinin 2010

  • I called surly strangers in Ohio and hate-filled racists in Pennsylvania,

    THE BROKEN THREAD 2009

  • "But no matter what price you get on a firearm, Scott, his unnamed and nasty brother, and certain surly staff members including" Derek "always leaves me with the impression that I was either cheated or manhandled by unwashed hands."

    The Dealer's Take: The Customer is Often Wrong 2006

  • But no matter what price you get on a firearm, Scott, his unnamed and nasty brother, and certain surly staff members including "Derek" always leaves me with the impression that I was either cheated or manhandled by unwashed hands.

    The Dealer's Take: The Customer is Often Wrong 2006

  • In silence, and with an expression of surly disappointment, Noodles was regretting once more that he and his third wife, Carmen, with whom he was in the throes of a bitter divorce, were no longer on speaking terms.

    Closing Time Joseph Heller 1994

  • By ANN LANDI In photographs, Tim Burton looks the part of the goth filmmaker: rumpled and slightly menacing, his grizzled locks untamed, his expression surly behind a barricade of

    WN.com - Articles related to From a House Beautiful 2009

Comments

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  • As opposed to surely...

    December 8, 2007

  • Surly in the morning for words like this.

    December 8, 2007

  • I'm not joking. And stop calling me Surly.

    December 8, 2007

  • Spot on!

    December 8, 2007

  • From sirly in Middle English meaning 'like a lord or a sir'.

    December 8, 2007

  • You made that up, didn't you?

    December 8, 2007

  • Nae.

    December 8, 2007

  • '...I awaken bright and surly.'

    --jorge999

    November 4, 2009