sullen

Modifies a noun

• silence: However in the real world sullen silence or blank looks can be the response to even the most promising of topics.
• teenager: A wedding on a Caribbean beach with the promise of snorkeling or scuba diving should keep even the most sullen teenager smiling!
• face: In Paris he sat at café tables, watching the sullen French faces go by.
• look: The crowd went mad; the benches exchanged sullen looks.
• man: The chaplain suffered, and was torn with pity for that sullen man whose life was almost at an end.
• resentment: Sullen resentment turns to respect and, ultimately, love.

Modifying Another Word

• very: Stephane was in hysterics, which is great, because he's been very sullen recently for some reason.
• rather: As I knew him to be of a rather sullen unsocial disposition, I said nothing to him, but proceeded on my way.
• so: Ludwig's face, previously so sullen, turned frightening in its mein, quite different to anything I had seen before.
• sometimes: She was sometimes sullen, cross and complained of headaches, and my friends began to notice.

Used with adjective complement

• look: You remark on just how much torque they've got, and you break into a grin that would make a Cheshire cat look sullen.
• become: Over the next few days the boys played contact sports harder than usual and Carla became more sullen.