SURLY: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for SURLY?

Need another word that means the same as “surly”? Find 38 synonyms and 30 related words for “surly” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Surly” are: ugly, bad-tempered, ill-natured, grumpy, glum, crotchety, prickly, cantankerous, irascible, testy, ill-tempered, short-tempered, ungracious, splenetic, choleric, dyspeptic, bilious, crusty, abrupt, brusque, curt, gruff, blunt, churlish, ill-humoured, crabbed, crabby, uncivil, morose, dour, sullen, sulky, moody, sour, unfriendly, unpleasant, scowling, unsmiling

Surly as an Adjective

Definitions of "Surly" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “surly” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• Bad-tempered and unfriendly.
• Inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace.

Synonyms of "Surly" as an adjective (38 Words)

abrupt	Sudden and unexpected. Came to an abrupt stop.
bad-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
bilious	Affected by or associated with nausea or vomiting. A bilious yellow hue.
blunt	Devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment. The blunt truth.
brusque	Abrupt or offhand in speech or manner. She could be brusque and impatient.
cantankerous	Bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative. He can be a cantankerous old fossil at times.
choleric	Easily moved to anger- H.G.Wells. Men of the choleric type take to kicking and smashing.
churlish	Rude and boorish. It seems churlish to complain.
crabbed	(of handwriting) very small and difficult to decipher. A crabbed unhappy middle age.
crabby	Irritable. He was crabby at having his siesta interrupted.
crotchety	Irritable. He was tired and crotchety.
crusty	Having or acting as a hard outer layer or covering. Crusty remarks.
curt	Marked by rude or peremptory shortness. A response so curt as to be almost rude.
dour	Harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance- J.M.Barrie. The proverbially dour New England Puritan.
dyspeptic	Suffering from dyspepsia.
glum	Showing a brooding ill humor- Bruce Bli. The princess looked glum but later cheered up.
gruff	Abrupt or taciturn in manner. Gruff voices.
grumpy	Bad-tempered and irritable. He s grumpy because he hasn t heard from you.
ill-humoured	Brusque and surly and forbidding.
ill-natured	Having an irritable and unpleasant disposition.
ill-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
irascible	Having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. An irascible response.
moody	Giving an impression of melancholy or mystery. He sat in moody silence.
morose	Sullen and ill-tempered. She was morose and silent when she got home.
prickly	Having or causing a tingling or itching sensation. His hair was prickly and short.
scowling	Sullen or unfriendly in appearance.
short-tempered	Quickly aroused to anger.
sour	Having a rancid smell. The kitchen smelled of sour milk.
splenetic	Very irritable. A splenetic rant.
sulky	Depressingly dark. Disappointment was making her sulky.
sullen	Darkened by clouds. A sullen sunless sky.
testy	Easily irritated; impatient and somewhat bad-tempered. She could see him growing quite testy beneath that polished urbanity.
uncivil	Lacking civility or good manners- Willa Cather. He d been short and uncivil with her.
unfriendly	Not friendly. She shot him an unfriendly glance.
ungracious	Lacking social graces. Ungracious behavior.
unpleasant	(of a person or their manner) unfriendly and inconsiderate; rude. The symptoms are extremely unpleasant.
unsmiling	(of a person or their manner or expression) serious or unfriendly; not smiling. A large unsmiling woman.

Usage Examples of "Surly" as an adjective

• The porter left with a surly expression.
• A surly waiter.

Associations of "Surly" (30 Words)

abusive	Involving injustice or illegality. He became quite abusive and swore at her.
blunt	Make dull or blunt. A blunt statement of fact.
boor	A rough and bad-mannered person. At last the big obnoxious boor had been dealt a stunning blow for his uncouth and belligerent manner.
boorish	Ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance. Boorish behaviour.
brat	A child, typically one that is badly behaved. She s been acting like a spoiled brat all evening.
brusqueness	An abrupt discourteous manner.
churl	A peasant. This trio are used whenever some churl wants to have a pop at progressive rock.
churlish	Having a bad disposition; surly. Churlish as a bear.
coarse	Relating to the sport of angling for coarse fish. His coarse ugly features contorted with rage.
curt	Rudely brief. A curt reply.
discourteous	Showing no courtesy; rude. A distant and at times discourteous young.
dismissive	Feeling or showing that something is unworthy of consideration. They took dismissive action after the third violation.
disposition	The action of arranging people or things in a particular way. If Napoleon had had railways at his disposition he would have been invincible.
flippancy	Inappropriate levity. She was infuriated by his careless flippancy.
flippant	Not showing a serious or respectful attitude. A flippant remark.
frivolity	The trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible. A night of fun and frivolity.
frivolousness	The trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible.
grouch	Show one’s unhappiness or critical attitude. My only real grouch was that the children s chorus was less easy on the ear.
impolite	Not polite. It would have been impolite to refuse.
manner	A semantic category of adverbs and adverbials which answer the question ‘how. Her dignified manner.
niggard	Ungenerous niggardly.
oafish	Rough or clumsy and unintelligent. Oafish behaviour.
pejorative	Expressing disapproval. Permissiveness is used almost universally as a pejorative term.
rude	Belonging to an early stage of technical development characterized by simplicity and often crudeness. The crude weapons and rude agricultural implements of early man.
rudely	In an impolite manner. He rudely snatched the water pitcher.
uncouth	(of art or language) lacking sophistication or delicacy. His uncouth cell in Fleet prison.
uncultivated	(of land) not used for growing crops. Uncultivated land.
unrefined	Not refined; uncouth. Unrefined sugar.
villain	A wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately. A pantomime villain.