How to Use sullen in a Sentence

sullen

adjective

• Dune suggests a sullen view of the world and the future.
  — Armond White, National Review, 22 Oct. 2021
• Next spring might well look rather sullen, even if the sun shines.
  — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2023
• The Garden went from lifeless and sullen to loud and lovin’ it.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Nov. 2019
• The girls — 10-year-old Sara and Safa, 7 — weren’t talking much, and Aria was sullen.
  — Washington Post, 2 Sep. 2021
• A sullen grandson who must come to respect the old-timers.
  — Peter Hartlaub, Orange County Register, 6 Apr. 2017
• One was the sullen sky and swampy feel of humid late July.
  — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 30 July 2022
• Jacob was gaunt and sullen, his beard tied in two long braids.
  — Zach Williams, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2022
• Both boys were silent and sullen and refused to engage with the rest of the family for the rest of the week.
  — Amy Dickinson, chicagotribune.com, 25 Apr. 2018
• Both boys were silent, sullen and refused to engage with the rest of the family for the rest of the week.
  — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 25 Apr. 2018
• Both boys were silent, sullen, and refused to engage with the rest of the family for the rest of the week.
  — Amy Dickinson, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Apr. 2018
• Off to the side, though, is a group of sullen men whose dark clothing contrasts with the earth tones of the locals.
  — New York Times, 26 July 2021
• The descent could have been a sullen bulwark of steel and cement.
  — Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2022
• The blow is such that we're told a sullen Hamilton may or may not return for 2022.
  — Steven Cole Smith, Car and Driver, 21 Aug. 2022
• The river at this point (more properly a fjord, a riverbed drowned by the sea) is vast and sullen.
  — Richard Brookhiser, National Review, 20 Aug. 2020
• The players on France’s bench were up off all their feet all night cheering; the U.S. side felt sullen.
  — Sean Gregory/tokyo, Time, 25 July 2021
• Tony, on the other hand, only grew more sullen with each hit.
  — Chris Rush, Harper's magazine, 19 Aug. 2019
• See the show that has the gym’s sullen front-desk employees shrugging.
  — Steven Strogatz, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2017
• As we were headed back up, my father was sullen, and walked far ahead of me.
  — Madeleine Watts, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022
• Okay, great, so why even hire all the sullen extras crossing their arms?
  — Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2021
• This sullen act landed her in the top spot of the Spotify and Billboard charts.
  — Armond White, National Review, 21 July 2021
• My boyfriend, Gates, was sullen in the other room, staring at a screen of thermal pants.
  — Ella Riley-Adams, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2022
• But that sullen teenager left his bedroom, got dolled-up, and took himself to the prom!
  — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 28 June 2022
• The soundtrack's foreboding and the stares very sullen, which is all to say, you will be unnerved.
  — Jill Krasny, Esquire, 14 May 2015
• Wang’s son, now a teen-ager, is shown sitting at his desk, looking a bit sullen.
  — Andrea Denhoed, The New Yorker, 5 June 2019
• And this when nonbank lenders’ moods are already sullen.
  — Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2019
• Photos show a sullen-looking Trump standing next to the queen, hands at his side, a frown on his face.
  — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, 4 June 2019
• Her teenage daughter Sara (Laura Galán) is sullen and alone.
  — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Jan. 2022
• That was also a time of the sullen track superstar and an era marred by doping.
  — Eddie Pells, ajc, 17 July 2022
• Their sullen 15-year-old daughter Nina (Freya Hannan-Mills) is equally detached from both her parents.
  — Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 Feb. 2024
• Embedded with layers of forlorn melodies and sullen acoustic guitar, the track is a masterpiece of melancholy.
  — Peter A. Berry, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024

Last Updated: 17 Nov 2024