subs. (colloquial).—In pl. = the sulks. SICK OF THE SULLENS (or SULLEN-SICK) = very gloomy.
1581. J. LYLY, Euphues, 258. [A lady is] SICK OF THE SOLENS.
1597. SHAKESPEARE, Richard II., ii. 1. 139. Let them die that age and SULLENS have.
1632. MASSINGER, The Emperor of the East, iii. 4.
| Flac. If she be not SICK OF THE SULLENS, I see not | |
| The least infirmity in her. |
1650. FULLER, A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, II. vii. 7. On the denyall Ahab falls SULLEN-SICK.
d. 1655. T. ADAMS, Works, i. 330. If the state … lie SULLEN-SICK of Naboth’s vineyard, the lawyer is perchance not sent for, but gone to.
1692. J. HACKET, Life of Archbishop Williams, i. 84. If his Majesty were moody, and not inclin’d to his propositions, he would fetch him out of that SULLEN with a pleasant jest.
1826. LAMB, Last Essays of Elia, ‘Popular Fallacies,’ xvi. A long and desperate fit of THE SULLENS.
