surly
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++sur·ly /ˈsɜːli $ ˈsɜːrli/ adjective BAD-TEMPEREDbad-tempered and unfriendly 脾气坏的;不友好的 SYN sullen a surly teenager 一个脾气暴躁的少年 —surliness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
surly• The others hung back, looking surly.• He sort of slips the surly bonds of fact every now and then.• She knew him, and could imagine his state now, half surly defiance, half anxious and defensive fear.• Still, he is impressive as the surly, enigmatic intellectual who offers Jane a glimmer of hope for a better life.• I declined to tip the porter, who left with a surly expression.• I declined to tip the porter, who left with a surly expression.• Her boss being a surly middle-aged man at a nearby table in an otherwise almost empty caf.• Fred's attitude of surly non-cooperativeness makes further investigation difficult.• Kevin can be really surly sometimes.• Passengers complained about the dirty lavatory and surly staff.• a staff of surly teenagersOrigin surly (1500-1600) sirly “like a lord, proud and grand” ((14-17 centuries)), from sirsur·ly adjectiveChineseSyllable
and bad-tempered unfriendly Corpus
surly
sur‧ly /ˈsɜːli $ ˈsɜːrli/
adjective
SYN sullen:
a surly teenager
—surliness noun [uncountable]
sur‧ly /ˈsɜːli $ ˈsɜːrli/
adjective Date: 1500-1600
Origin: sirly 'like a lord, proud and grand' (14-17 centuries), from sir
bad-tempered and unfriendly Origin: sirly 'like a lord, proud and grand' (14-17 centuries), from sir
SYN sullen:
—surliness noun [uncountable]