surmulen

Swedish

Etymology

Arguably from Middle Low German sūrmūlen. Arguably past participle of verb surmula. In folk etymology interpreted as sur (“sour”) +‎ mulen (“cloudy; overcast”), for example in the 1749 dictionary by Olof Lind. Compare Danish surmule. See also Dutch zuurmuil, archaic German Sauermaul, English sourpuss.

Adjective

surmulen (comparative surmulnare, superlative surmulnast)

1. sullen, morose

   Synonyms: trumpen, butter

Declension

Inflection of surmulen

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	surmulen	—	—
neuter singular	surmulet	—	—
plural	surmulna	—	—
masculine plural2	surmulne	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	surmulne	—	—
all	surmulna	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• surmulenhet

References

• surmulen in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• surmulen in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• surmulen in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• surmulen in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)