Question

I wondered often what my master saw to admire so much in the sullen boy, who never, to my recollection, repaid his indulgence by any sign of gratitude.
In this sentence from the passage, what does sullen mean?
A) impressive, proud
B) small-framed, slight
C) joyous, appreciative
D) gloomy, resentfully silent

Answer 1

Hello there! I’ll make this quick.
For short, your answer is D.

Here’s why: The definition of sullen has the word gloomy in it itself when you look it up in the dictionary. Plus, you can read the words around the defined word and see that D is the best possible choice. The boy discussed in the paragraph: “never repaid his indulgence by any sign of gratitude”, which tells us the word does not mean anything positive. The word sullen, used in any way, means moody, sad, glum, or even sulky.

I hope this is enough of an explanation to support my answer. Have a great night and happy studying!
~Brooke❤️

Answer 2

Hello!

The correct answer is: D) Gloomy, resentfully silent. -- That is just about the perfect definition of 'sullen'.