How to Use sullen in a Sentence

sullen

adjective
  • Next spring might well look rather sullen, even if the sun shines.
    — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Teenagers do not, as a rule, have to go through a sullen phase.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Jacob was gaunt and sullen, his beard tied in two long braids.
    — Zach Williams, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The women stare back at her with sullen but intrigued faces.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Tony, on the other hand, only grew more sullen with each hit.
    — Chris Rush, Harper's magazine, 19 Aug. 2019
  • One of the migrants looks at the camera with sullen eyes and a rugged beard.
    — Kunal Sehgal, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
  • But the day remained gray, shrouded, and sullen.
    — Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Okay, great, so why even hire all the sullen extras crossing their arms?
    — Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2021
  • As we were headed back up, my father was sullen, and walked far ahead of me.
    — Madeleine Watts, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022
  • 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
  • The descent could have been a sullen bulwark of steel and cement.
    — Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2022
  • The Garden went from lifeless and sullen to loud and lovin’ it.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Nov. 2019
  • Two middle-aged women sat down in front of me, quiet and sullen.
    — Shanna Farrell, SFChronicle.com, 18 Oct. 2019
  • My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room.
    — Jann Blackstone, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2025
  • My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room.
    — Jann Blackstone, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2025
  • Guchkov sat there sullen, propping his head up on the table by his elbows.
    — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 13 Oct. 2021
  • Vasya smiled at the compliment before his mood turned sullen.
    — Natalia Yermak Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2022
  • See the show that has the gym’s sullen front-desk employees shrugging.
    — Steven Strogatz, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2017
  • But that sullen teenager left his bedroom, got dolled-up, and took himself to the prom!
    — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 28 June 2022
  • Portia, the sullen teen who doesn’t even want to show her face to the camera, is the first one to crack.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2024
  • That was also a time of the sullen track superstar and an era marred by doping.
    — Eddie Pells, ajc, 17 July 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
  • Moura channeled Brazil’s jagged history in his sullen and drawn face.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026
  • 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
  • Normally Mikey sings along under his breath, but now his mouth's a sullen straight line.
    — Ew Staff, EW.com, 22 Nov. 2021
  • My boyfriend, Gates, was sullen in the other room, staring at a screen of thermal pants.
    — Ella Riley-Adams, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2022
  • 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 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, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Apr. 2018
  • But the boy had become impatient and sullen, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket.
    — Cassandra Neyenesch, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sullen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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