[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

surly \sur"ly\ s^ur"ly^, a. compar. surlier
   s^ur"li^~er; superl. surliest. probably from
   sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. see sir,
   and like, a.
   1. arrogant; haughty. obs. --cotgrave.
      1913 webster

   2. gloomily morose; ill-natured, abrupt, and rude; severe;
      sour; crabbed; rough; sullen; gloomy; as, a surly groom; a
      surly dog; surly language; a surly look. "that surly
      spirit, melancholy." --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. rough; dark; tempestuous.
      1913 webster

            now softened into joy the surly storm. --thomson.
      1913 webster
see also:
surlier surliest sir like 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

surly
     adj : inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace;
           "a surly waiter"; "an ugly frame of mind" syn: ugly
     also: surliest, surlier
see also:
ugly surliest surlier 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

81 moby thesaurus words for "surly":
   abrupt, aggressive, argumentative, bad-tempered, bearish, beastly,
   beetle-browed, bilious, black, black-browed, bluff, blunt, boorish,
   brash, brusque, cantankerous, cavalier, choleric, churlish,
   crabbed, crabby, cross, crotchety, crusty, curt, dark, dejected,
   discourteous, dour, dumpish, dyspeptic, fractious, frowning,
   glowering, glum, grim, grouchy, gruff, grum, grumpy, harsh,
   ill-humored, ill-mannered, ill-natured, ill-tempered, irritable,
   lowering, melancholy, moodish, moody, mopey, moping, mopish,
   morose, mumpish, obnoxious, obstreperous, peevish, quarrelsome,
   rough, rude, saturnine, scowling, severe, sharp, short,
   short-tempered, snappish, snippy, splenetic, sulky, sullen,
   temperamental, testy, touchy, truculent, ugly, uncivil, ungracious,
   unpleasant, waspish

Surly >> S Words
Surly, definition of term: Surly
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