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''surly'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''surly'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125123911-00-⌔

surly - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

  • Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
  • Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
    • ✤ The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.
  • (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.

Adverb

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

  • (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
    • ✤ Against the Capitol I met a lion/Who glazed upon me, and went surly by/Without annoying me […]1

Etymology

16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɜːli/
  • (General American) IPA: /ˈsɝli/
  • Audio (US): 🔊
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)li

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]: ↩

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Secondary

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