sullenness
nounEtymology From sullen + -ness.
1
The state or quality of being sullen.
- “Marry come up—are you there with your bears?” muttered the dragon, with a draconic sullenness, which was in good keeping with his character, “we had as good have been Romans still, if we are to have no freedom in our pastimes!”1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 323:
- ’Twas sunset: when the sun will part There comes a sullenness of heart To him who still would look upon The glory of the summer sun.1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
1 more example
- The detectives were still wrapped in sullenness, remembering the grieving woman and a lead that had led nowhere.1970, Wally Ferris, Across 110th, page 176:
2
Rare The result or product of being sullen.