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Sulk

//sʌlk// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A state of sulking.

    "Leo has been in a sulk all morning."

  2. 2
    A furrow.
  3. 3
    a mood or display of sullen aloofness or withdrawal wordnet
  4. 4
    A fit of sulking; a sulking mood. in-plural

    "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."

  5. 5
    A person who sulks

    "Don't be such a sulk, Leo!"

Verb
  1. 1
    To express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn. intransitive

    "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, […]"

  2. 2
    be in a huff and display one's displeasure wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

From Latin sulcus.

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