Synonyms for sulky

27 synonyms
1 meaning

adjective

Most common

ill-natured glum morose peevish sluggish pouty glouting huffish

All synonyms

Adjective

1. Sullen

sullen, morose, moody, glum, peevish, ill-natured, gloomy, surly, fretful, dark, wayward, perverse, dogged, petulant, ill-tempered, mopey, dour, dejected, melancholy, churlish, sour, grim

Other

pouty, stuffy US, sluggish, glouting, huffish

Definitions

adj. 1
silent and withdrawn after being upset

Related words

Other spellings: sulkey sulkie

Choose the right word

Sulky, Sullen or Morose?

The sullen and sulky are discontented and resentful in regard to that against which they are too proud to protest, or consider all protest vain; sullen denotes more of pride, sulky more of resentful obstinacy. The sullen and sulky are for the most part silent; the morose growl out bitter speeches.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

glum Don't be so glum about it. Life has its ups and downs.
peevish Tom woke up feeling rather peevish.
sluggish Mr. Smith ran his sluggish horse along the country roads.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
sulky		rising
glum		rising
morose		rising
peevish		rising
sluggish		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: dark¹, sour², grim¹, glum¹, dour²
5 letters: moody², surly², pouty², mopey
6 letters: gloomy², dogged¹, stuffy², sullen², morose²
7 letters: wayward², fretful², peevish², huffish
8 letters: perverse², sluggish², dejected³, petulant³, churlish², glouting
10 letters: melancholy⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sour² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: boudeur
Italiano: imbronciato