sulk
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
sulk¹
- /sʌlk/
- /sʊlk/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌlk
Where it comes from
Back-formation from sulky, of uncertain origin. Probably from Middle English *sulke, *solke (attested in solcenesse (“idleness; laziness”), from Old English āsolcennys (“idleness; slothfulness; sluggishness; laziness”), from āsolcen (“sulky, languid”), from past participle of Old English āseolcan (“be slow; be weak or slothful; languish”), from Proto-Germanic *selkaną (“to fall in drops; dribble; droop”), from Proto-Indo-European *sélǵ-o-nom, from *selǵ- (“to let go, send”). Cognate with several Indo-Iranian words deriving from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sarȷ́- (such as Sanskrit सृजति (sṛjáti), सर्जन (sárjana), सृक (sṛká)), possibly Hittite 𒊭𒀠𒀝𒍣 (ša-al-ak-zi /šalkzi/, “knead, mix”), although the semantic connection is weak.
verb sulks · sulking · sulked
-
To express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn.
Mr. Riach, who had been to the college, spoke to me like a friend when he was not sulking, and told me many curious things, […]
Similar: mope
noun sulks
- A state of sulking. Leo has been in a sulk all morning.
- A fit of sulking; a sulking mood. The Puddin', who had got the sulks over Sam's remark that fifteen goes of steak and kidney were enough for any self-respecting man, protested against the singing, which, he said, disturbed his gravy.
- A person who sulks Don't be such a sulk, Leo!
sulk²
- /sʌlk/
- /sʊlk/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌlk
Where it comes from
From Latin sulcus.
noun sulks
- A furrow.
Translations
Every language
verb to express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn
| Español | enfurruñarse, amohinarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 실쭉거리다 siljjukgeorida |
| 日本語 | 拗ねる suneru, やさぐれる yasagureru |
| 中文 | 撅嘴 juēzuǐ, 噘 juē, 幽憤 /幽愤 yōufèn |
| Português | amuar, ficar emburrado, prender o burro |
| Français | bouder, faire la gueule |
| Deutsch | schmollen |
| Italiano | fare l'offeso, tenere il muso, tenere il broncio, imbronciarsi, piangersi addosso |
| Ελληνικά | μουτρώνω moutróno, σκυθρωπιάζω skythropiázo, κατσουφιάζω katsoufiázo |
| Română | îmbufnat |
| Русский | ду́ться dútʹsja, ку́кситься kúksitʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | hờn dỗi |
| עברית | זעף za'af |
Talk about this word "sulk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sulk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sulk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sulk "sulk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sulk.Cite this
@misc{sulk_2026,
title = {sulk},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sulk},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
