different between surly vs currish

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??li/
• Rhymes: -??(r)li

Adjective

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

1. Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
2. Threatening, menacing, gloomy.

   The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

3. (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.

Derived terms

• surliness

Translations

Adverb

surly (comparative surlier, superlative surliest)

1. (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, I.iii,

     Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly by / Without annoying me […]

Middle English

Adverb

surly

1. Alternative form of surely

English

Etymology

From cur +? -ish.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?????/

Adjective

currish (comparative more currish, superlative most currish)

1. Pertaining to a cur or mongrel.
2. (now rare) Ignoble, mean-spirited.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.4:

     more enfierced through his currish play, / Him sternely grypt, and haling to and fro, / To ouerthrow him strongly did assay […].

   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV scene i^[1]:

     Gratiano:

     O, be thou damn'd, inexecrable dog!

     And for thy life let justice be accused.

     Thou almost makest me waver in my faith,

     To hold opinion with Pythagoras,

     That souls of animals infuse themselves

     Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit

     Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter,

     Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,

     And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam,

     Infused itself in thee; for thy desires

     Are wolfish, bloody, starved, and ravenous.

Synonyms

• doggish

Anagrams

• cirrhus