Sullen vs. Sully — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Sullen and Sully
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Definitions
Sullen
Bad-tempered and sulky
A sullen pout
Sully
To mar the cleanness or luster of; soil or stain.
Sullen
A sulky or depressed mood.
Sully
To defile; taint
Sully a reputation.
Sullen
Showing a brooding ill humor or silent resentment; morose or sulky.
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Sully
Something that stains or spots.
Sullen
Gloomy or somber in tone, color, or portent
Sullen, gray skies.
Sully
(transitive) To soil or stain; to dirty.
He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.
Sullen
Sluggish; slow
The sullen current of a canal.
Sully
(transitive) To corrupt or damage.
She tried to sully her rival’s reputation with a suggestive comment.
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Sullen
Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
Sully
To become soiled or tarnished.
Sullen
Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
A sullen atmosphere
Sully
A blemish.
Sullen
Sluggish; slow.
Sully
To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken; - used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to sully a person's reputation.
Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.
No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.
Sullen
(obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
Sully
To become soiled or tarnished.
Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
Sullen
(obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
Sully
Soil; tarnish; stain.
A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies in his reputation.
Sullen
(obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
Sully
United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872)
Sullen
(obsolete) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
Sully
French statesman (1560-1641)
Sullen
Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
Sully
Place under suspicion or cast doubt upon;
Sully someone's reputation
Sullen
Lonely; solitary; desolate.
Sully
Make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically;
The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air
Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man
Sullen
Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
Solemn hymns so sullen dirges change.
Sully
Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone;
The journalists have defamed me!
The article in the paper sullied my reputation
Sullen
Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
Such sullen planets at my birth did shine.
Sullen
Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose.
And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.
Sullen
Obstinate; intractable.
Things are as sullen as we are.
Sullen
Heavy; dull; sluggish.
No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows;The dreaded east is all the wind that blows.
Sullen
One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.
Sullen
Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness; as, to have the sullens.
Sullen
To make sullen or sluggish.
Sullens the whole body with . . . laziness.
Sullen
Showing a brooding ill humor;
A dark scowl
The proverbially dour New England Puritan
A glum, hopeless shrug
He sat in moody silence
A morose and unsociable manner
A saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius
A sour temper
A sullen crowd
Sullen
Darkened by clouds;
A heavy sky
