surly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɜrli/ UK /ˈsɜːli/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
bad-tempered and unfriendly

The surly waiter slammed the menus onto the table.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · bad-tempered and unfriendly sullen churlish gruff morose grumpy cantankerous crabby

Opposites

genial amiable cheerful affable

Word family

Forms surlily

Derived forms surlinesssurlily

Related forms sir

Simplified etymology

Surly was originally sirly, meaning “in the manner of a sir or lord.” It first meant “lordly,” “haughty,” or “arrogant,” and developed its modern sense of “bad-tempered and unfriendly” late in the 16th century.

Etymology

From earlier sirly ('haughty, lordly, like a sir'), from sir (from Old French sire, from Latin senior 'older'); the sense shifted from 'arrogant' to 'rude, bad-tempered'.

sire Old French senior Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# surly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɜrli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɜːli/

## Meanings
1. bad-tempered and unfriendly

## Examples
- The surly waiter slammed the menus onto the table.

## Synonyms
- sullen
- churlish
- gruff
- morose
- grumpy
- cantankerous
- crabby

## Antonyms
- genial
- amiable
- cheerful
- affable

## Derived Forms
- surliness
- surlily

## Related Forms
- sir

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sire
- Root: senior

## Etymology
From earlier sirly ('haughty, lordly, like a sir'), from sir (from Old French sire, from Latin senior 'older'); the sense shifted from 'arrogant' to 'rude, bad-tempered'.

## AI Etymology
Surly comes from earlier sirly ('haughty, lordly, like a sir'), from sir (from Old French sire, from Latin senior 'older'); the sense shifted from 'arrogant' to 'rude, bad-tempered'. The historical chain includes Old French sire and Latin senior. The quoted older senses, "haughty, lordly, like a sir", "older", "arrogant", and "rude, bad-tempered", supply the semantic anchors for surly. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word surly carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "bad-tempered and unfriendly". English derivatives include surliness and surlily; related English forms include sir. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown