Meanings
adjectivesurly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)
comparative surlier · superlative surliest
- Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.
- obsoleteLordly, arrogant, supercilious.
adverbsurly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)
comparative surlier · superlative surliest
- obsoleteIn an arrogant or supercilious manner.
Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly by / Without annoying me […]
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]
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveinclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian навъсен, нацупен
- навъсен (navăsen)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- нацупен (nacupen)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- груб (grub)threatening, menacing, gloomy
- заплашителен (zaplašitelen)threatening, menacing, gloomy
Catalan malcarat, sorrut
- malcaratirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- sorrutirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Chinese Mandarin 粗暴, 無禮 /无礼
- 粗暴 (cūbào)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- 無禮 /无礼 (wúlǐ)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- 乖戾 (guāilì)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- 陰鬱 /阴郁 (yīnyù)threatening, menacing, gloomy
- 傲慢的 (àomàn de)(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
Czech nevrlý, nepříjemný
- nevrlýirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- nepříjemnýirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- mrzutýirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Dutch knorrig, bars
- knorrigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- barsirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- onbeleefdirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- bedreigendthreatening, menacing, gloomy
- barsthreatening, menacing, gloomy
- mistroostigthreatening, menacing, gloomy
- arrogant(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
- bazig(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
Esperanto malafabla
- malafablairritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Finnish hapan, pahantuulinen
- hapanirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- pahantuulinenirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- töykeäirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- uhkaavathreatening, menacing, gloomy
- koppava(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
- pöyhkeä(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
French grognon, grincheux
- grognonirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- grincheuxirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- impoliirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- menaçantthreatening, menacing, gloomy
- rudethreatening, menacing, gloomy
- mornethreatening, menacing, gloomy
- arrogant(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
- autoritaire(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
German mürrisch, unwirsch
- mürrischirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- unwirschirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- missmutigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- verdrießlichirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- griesgrämigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- grämlichirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- ruppigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- knurrigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- barschirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- unfreundlichirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- übellaunigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- bärbeißigirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Irish mosach, bodúil
- mosachirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- bodúilirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- dorrgairritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Italian scontroso, burbero
- scontrosoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- burberoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Māori ngākaukawa, tukumaru
- ngākaukawairritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- tukumaruirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Portuguese rabugento
- rabugentoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Romanian posac, morocănos
- posacirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- morocănosirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Russian угрю́мый, серди́тый
- угрю́мый (ugrjúmyj)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- серди́тый (serdítyj)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- гру́бый (grúbyj)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- неприве́тливый (neprivétlivyj)irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- угрожа́ющий (ugrožájuščij)threatening, menacing, gloomy
- гро́зный (gróznyj)threatening, menacing, gloomy
- надме́нный (nadménnyj)(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
- спеси́вый (spesívyj)(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
- высокоме́рный (vysokomérnyj)(obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious
Scottish Gaelic gruamach, gruamach
- gruamachirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- gruamachthreatening, menacing, gloomy
Spanish arisco, brígido
- ariscoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- brígidoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- escolimosoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- hoscoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- foscoirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Welsh sarrug, afrywiog
- sarrugirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
- afrywiogirritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with surly
earlyShirleycurlygirlyburleypearlyburlyEarleyBuehrlehurlysquirrellybright and earlyChristmas come earlychurlyhurly-burlyknurlyquirlyuncurly
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
surly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surly
MLA
“surly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surly.
Source: surly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.