sullen
/ˈsʌlən/
"sullen" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sullen” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,399. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,399
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sullen · sullen · English
sullen · rank #41,399 · 7 variants · 10 confusables
- FREQ-MID #41,399
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH sump
Nearest frequency peer: sump (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sullen”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Straus
Straus
58,606 corpus weight
- strutting
strutting
58,605 corpus weight
- subsidence
subsidence
58,604 corpus weight
- sullen
sullen
58,602 corpus weight
- sump
sump
58,601 corpus weight
- superconduc…
superconducting
58,600 corpus weight
What this shows “sullen” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sullen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsʌlən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #41,399 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sullen”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around sullen (IPA /ˈsʌlən/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #41,399 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sullen, with forms such as "slulen", "ssullen", and "suleln". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "sully", "sultan", "sunken", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English soleyn, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English. The correct English form is sullen, spelled S-U-L-L-E-N.
Definition
- 1Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
- 2Gloomy; dismal; foreboding.
- 3Sluggish; slow.
- 4Mischievous; malignant; unpropitious.
- 5Obstinate; intractable.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sullen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, / For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; / Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets, / ‘Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;
And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast.
Etymology
From Middle English soleyn, from Anglo-Norman soleyn (“alone”), from Old French sole (“single, sole, alone”), from Latin sōlus (“by oneself alone”). The change in meaning from "single" to morose occurred in Middle English.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- slulen
- ssullen
- suleln
- sulen
- sullenn
- sullne
- usllen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sullen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sullen", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).