surly

adj, adv — 4 senses

surly

adj

UK /ˈsɜːli/ · US /ˈsɝli/

Etymology 16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir + -ly.

1

Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.

2

Threatening, menacing, gloomy.

The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

3

Obsolete Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.

Derived terms: surlily, surling, unsurly, surliness

surly

adv

Etymology 16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir + -ly.

1

Obsolete In an arrogant or supercilious manner.

Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly by / Without annoying me […]1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.