SURLY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Surly

Translators

Dictionaries

Courses

Other

Home

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/sˈərli/ Listen

adjective

Surly adj. (compar. surlier; superl. surliest)

Arrogant; haughty. (Obs.)

Gloomily morose; ill-natured, abrupt, and rude; severe; sour; crabbed; rough; sullen; gloomy; as, a surly groom; a surly dog; surly language; a surly look. "That surly spirit, melancholy."

Rough; dark; tempestuous. "Now softened into joy the surly storm."

See images of 'Surly'

Etymology of 'Surly'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Surly" Quotes from Famous Books

... foe was no skulk in his ship I tell you, (said he,) His was the surly English pluck, and there is no tougher or truer, and never was, and never will be; Along the lower'd eve he came horribly ...

— A Study of Poetry • Bliss Perry

... to Phil's mind that not to know jewels when they were seen was a doubtful proof of smartness; so he answered with a somewhat surly, "How, sir?" ...

— Say and Seal, Volume I • Susan Warner

... upsetting bit of "crowd psychology" they had seen—that, he pointed out, had come merely from the unusual heat, the control of the steam-pipes happening to be out of whack to-day. Such a thing didn't happen once in six months; so that surly fellow MacQueen had said. Of course, producing wealth was a hard business at best, let none deny it. Everybody would like to see factories run on the model theory, like health resorts, but the truth was that ...

— V. V.'s Eyes • Henry Sydnor Harrison

... comely handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight long limbs, not too large, tall, and well-shaped, and, as I reckon, about twenty-six years of age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in his face, and yet he had all the sweetness and softness of an European in his countenance too, especially when he smiled: his hair was long and black, not curled like wool; his forehead very high and ...

— The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) • Daniel Defoe

... bellowed Big Bill, half in the surly anger which is the natural right of a man rudely awakened, half in tremulous joy. "Wait ontil I git my eyes open good an' I'll roll you like you was dough an' I'm ...

— The Short Cut • Jackson Gregory

More quotes...