# surly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsɜːli/ · frequency rank #35,102

## Definitions
1. Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
2. Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
3. Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.

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

## Easily confused with
- **Surya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surly-vs-surya)
- **surry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surly-vs-surry)
- **survey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surly-vs-survey)
- **Surrey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surly-vs-surrey)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sly-vs-surly)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sul-vs-surly)
- **sry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sry-vs-surly)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sure-vs-surly)
- **surf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surf-vs-surly)
- **SUNY** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suny-vs-surly)
- **Sulu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sulu-vs-surly)
- **sura** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sura-vs-surly)
- **sorry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sorry-vs-surly)
- **silly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silly-vs-surly)
- **sadly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sadly-vs-surly)
- **spray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spray-vs-surly)
- **sunny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sunny-vs-surly)
- **sally** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sally-vs-surly)
- **surge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surge-vs-surly)
- **stray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stray-vs-surly)

## Common misspellings (8)
`sruly`, `ssurly`, `sulry`, `surlly`, `surlyy`, `surrly`, `suryl`, `usrly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/surly