different between austere vs sullen

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???????? (aust?rós, “bitter, harsh”), having the specific meaning "making the tongue dry" (originally used of fruits, wines), related to ??? (aú?, “to singe”), ???? (aûos, “dry”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /??st??(?)/, /???st??(?)/
• (US)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??sti?/, enPR: ôst?r?
  • (cot–caught merger, Inland Northern American): IPA^(key): /??sti?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Adjective

austere (comparative austerer or more austere, superlative austerest or most austere)

1. Grim or severe in manner or appearance

2. Lacking decoration; trivial; not extravagant or gaudy

Synonyms

• (grim or severe): stern, strict, forbidding
• (lacking trivial decoration): simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished

Antonyms

• (not lacking trivial decoration): overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy

Derived terms

• austerity
• austerely

Translations

Italian

Adjective

austere f pl

1. feminine plural of austero

Latin

Adjective

aust?re

1. vocative masculine singular of aust?rus

References

• austere in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• austere in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Latvian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)Perhaps related to Ancient Greek ??????? (óstreon).

Pronunciation

Noun

austere f (5th declension)

1. oyster (certain edible bivalve mollusks of the order Ostreida)

Declension

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aust?rus.

Adjective

austere m or f (plural austeres)

1. austere; severe

Old French

Alternative forms

• haustere
• auster (masculine only)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aust?rus.

Adjective

austere m (oblique and nominative feminine singular austere)

1. (of a flavor) acrid; bitter
2. austere; severe

English

Etymology

From Middle English solein, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin s?lus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?l??n, IPA^(key): /?s?l?n/
• Rhymes: -?l?n
• Hyphenation: sul?len

Adjective

sullen (comparative sullener, superlative sullenest)

1. Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
   • 1709, Matthew Prior, Pleasure

     And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.

   • 2007, Steven Wilson, "Normal", Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring.

2. Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.

   a sullen atmosphere

   • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, IV. v. 88:

     Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
3. Sluggish; slow.
4. (obsolete) Lonely; solitary; desolate.
5. (obsolete) Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
6. (obsolete) Obstinate; intractable.
   • a. 1694, John Tillotson, Imprudence of Atheism

     Things are as sullen as we are.

Synonyms

(in a bad mood):

• sulky, morose

Antonyms

• cheerful
• content
• lighthearted
• pleased

Translations

Noun

sullen (plural sullens)

1. (obsolete) One who is solitary, or lives alone; a hermit.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)

2. (chiefly in the plural) Sullen feelings or manners; sulks; moroseness.
   • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, II. i. 139:

     And let them die that age and sullens have;

   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, I.7:

     [M]y brother […] charged my desire of being excused coming down to sullens, because a certain person had been spoken against, upon whom, as he supposed, my fancy ran.

Anagrams

• unsell

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sulan

Verb

sullen

1. (auxiliary) must, to have to
2. (auxiliary, negated) may, be allowed to
3. (auxiliary) will, shall, be going to (future tense)
4. (auxiliary, in the past tense) to be about to (inchoative)
5. (modal auxiliary) indicates a possible or hypothetical situation
6. (modal auxiliary) indicates information garnered from a third party that may or may not be reliable

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• suelen
• s?len
• sellen
• s?len
• sollen

Descendants

• Dutch: zullen
  • Afrikaans: sal
• Limburgish: zölle, zólle

Further reading

• “sullen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “sullen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

Verb

s?llen

1. first-person singular past indicative of suollit