sulk

sulk

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʌlk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌlk

Etymology 1

Back-formation from sulky, of uncertain origin. Probably from Middle English *sulke, *solke (attested in solcennesse (“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-[1] (such as Sanskrit सृजति (sṛjáti), सर्जति (sarjati), सर्जन (sárjana), सृक (sṛká)), possibly Hittite 𒊭𒀠𒀝𒍣 (ša-al-ak-zi /šalkzi/, “knead, mix”), although the semantic connection is weak.[2]

Verb

sulk (third-person singular simple present sulks, present participle sulking, simple past and past participle sulked)

1. (intransitive) To express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn.
   • 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, Limited., published 1886, OCLC 1056292939:

     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, […]

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], OCLC 560090630:

     You crossed her last wish in death and yet you sulk with me because I don’t whinge like some hired mute from Lalouette’s.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with skulk.

Synonyms

• mope

Related terms

• sulkily
• sulky

Translations

to express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn

Azerbaijani: darılmaq Bulgarian: муся се (musja se), цупя се (cupja se) Catalan: emmurriar-se (ca), enfurrunyar-se (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 撅嘴 (juēzuǐ), 噘 (zh) (juē), 幽憤／幽愤 (zh) (yōufèn) Czech: trucovat (cs) Danish: surmule Dutch: sikkeneurig zijn, mokken (nl), pruilen (nl) Esperanto: paŭti Finnish: murjottaa (fi), mököttää (fi), jurnuttaa (fi) French: bouder (fr), faire la gueule (fr) German: schmollen (de) Greek: μουτρώνω (el) (moutróno), σκυθρωπιάζω (el) (skythropiázo), κατσουφιάζω (el) (katsoufiázo) Hebrew: זעף‎ (he) (za'af) Hungarian: duzzog (hu) Italian: fare l'offeso, tenere il muso, tenere il broncio, imbronciarsi, piangersi addosso Japanese: 拗ねる (ja) (すねる, suneru), やさぐれる (ja) (yasagureru) Korean: 실쭉거리다 (ko) (siljjukgeorida) Maori: whakamoroki, whakamotutoke, whakakeke Norwegian: Bokmål: furte (no), surmule Nynorsk: furte, surmule Occitan: fonhar, far lo morre (oc), chorrar (oc) Persian: قهر‎ (fa) (ğahr) Polish: obrażać się impf, dąsać się impf, boczyć się Portuguese: amuar (pt), estar mal-humorado estar de mau humor, ficar emburrado m Romanian: îmbufnat (ro) Russian: ду́ться (ru) (dútʹsja), ку́кситься (ru) (kúksitʹsja) Slovak: opúchať sa, fúkať sa, odúvať sa Spanish: enfurruñarse (es), amohinarse (es) Swedish: tjura (sv) Tagalog: tampo Turkish: küsmek (tr), darılmak (tr), gücenmek (tr), surat asmak (tr) (figurative) Ukrainian: ду́тися impf (dútysja) Vietnamese: hờn dỗi (vi)

Noun

sulk (plural sulks)

1. A state of sulking.
   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     He thanks our miserable Liberal agent, an unbeliever called Donald Somebody, see the caption, who since the court's arrival on his territory has retired into a fuming sulk from which he has only tonight emerged.

   • 2012, Harriet S. Caswell, Walter Harland Or, Memories of the Past, tredition, →ISBN:

     " […] home during the holidays," said the Doctor with a good-humoured laugh, "but a fit of the sulks is no very uncommon thing for him;" and then he added, […]

   Leo has been in a sulk all morning.

2. A person who sulks

   Don't be such a sulk, Leo!

Translations

state of sulking

Bulgarian: мусене (bg) n (musene), цупене (bg) n (cupene) Chinese: Cantonese: 悶氣 (mun6 hei3) Mandarin: 悶氣／闷气 (zh) (mènqì) Min Nan: 悶氣, 闷气 (būn-khì) Dutch: gemok (nl), gepruil German: Schmollen (de) n Polish: dąsy nvir, fochy nvir Turkish: bir karış surat (figurative)

References

1. Cheung, Johnny (2007), “*harz-”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
2. Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), “šalk-^zi”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 821

Etymology 2

Latin sulcus.

Noun

sulk (plural sulks)

1. A furrow.

References

• “sulk”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “sulk”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "sulk" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• Lusk, lusk