Surly means bad-tempered and unfriendly. A surly waiter, surly silence, surly and uncooperative.
It describes manner rather than mood — a surly person is unpleasant as a matter of habit. It attaches to service staff, teenagers and weather in equal measure. Note that surly was originally sirly, meaning like a lord — masterful and haughty — and the sense slid from arrogant to merely rude, which is a fall from a considerable height.
1adjectivesurlyBad-tempered and unfriendly.
“The surly waiter slammed our plates down and walked off without a word.”
surly is a quality of gruffness.
Surly is a sixteenth-century alteration of sirly, from sir plus -ly, meaning lordly or haughty. The sense fell from arrogant to bad-tempered.
16th-century alteration of sirly, from sir + ly.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Word Building