Both Uses
sullen
in
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
(Edited)
- The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice.
p. 11.9 *sullenly = unpleasant
- Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night.
p. 78.3
Definitions:
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(1)
(sullen as in: a sullen mood) being unhappy (and often withdrawn)
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(2)
(sullen as in: a sullen sky) darkened by clouds; or the color of a gloomy sky
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(3)
(sullen as in: sullen heat) unpleasant
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Sullen can also be used figuratively. For example, "A sullen economic landscape" is one that does not look hopeful.