You have a quiet determination that gets things done while others are still making up their minds. silently, in silence, mutely, without talking. privately, secretly, discreetly, confidentially. softly, in hushed tones, in a low voice or whisper, inaudibly. What does it mean to do something quietly? What does it mean when someone says just quietly? 2 What does it mean for someone to be quite?.1 What does it mean when someone says just quietly?."Fine," he huffs.ġ Which, all those brooding anti-heroes notwithstanding, is kind of ironic, etymologically. "Fine," he says with a huff.ĭad sits back in his seat. "Fine," he says.ĭad sits back in his seat. If you're open to a slight rephrasing, huff might work in one of its forms:ĭad sits back in his seat in a huff. Perhaps one of these, or another, similarly obscure term is what you recall. Browsing through the Oxford English Dictionary turns up some more obscure examples, like glump, glout, grumme, and grutch. I'll point out that there really are a remarkable number of gl-/gr- terms with similar or related meanings, such as gloom, glum, grump, grumble, grouch, grouse, groan, grizzle, and your own glower (all of which can be used as verbs). I thought it was some obscure word you'd need to memorize a 2,000,000 word dictionary to know it even existed. I could have sworn it started with a "G" like glowered, but I don't know. There are many synonyms for sulk that you might want to look into, though I think sulk is likely the best for of those in common use. This works especially well if you want to emphasize Dad's inner thoughts (something like "Dad is ruminating on his anger"), whereas sulk is better if you want to emphasize the outer behavior ("Dad is sitting in quiet anger"). VERB Think deeply about something that makes one unhappy, angry, or worried.I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere (probably dialogue in a novel) something like "children sulk men brood" 1 or "I don't sulk, I brood." This term might suit if you want to be more diplomatic: Note that while I wouldn't hesitate to use it in your situation, it's quite likely that "Dad" would find the description insulting, as there are some connotations of childishness. (Coincidentally, the example sentence for sulk in Google's boxed definition at the moment is "Dad was sulking," apparently a shortened form of one of Oxford's examples.) Some other definitions emphasize that the silence might be attention-seeking.ĭad sits back in his seat, and sulks. From Oxford Dictionaries: sulkīe silent, morose, and bad-tempered out of annoyance or disappointment. Those words will be more appropriate for describing his mood later during the actual trip. any of them work a little better than a word for having restrained anger. Glaring, staring out the window, rolling his eyes, sighing, counting to ten, 'deadpans' instead of 'says'. Sulking is for little kids and suggests Dad is being petulant and petty in his annoyance.įor what it's worth, there are many more descriptive actions that would serve you better if this were some kind of short story. Stew's a step under boiling, which is a step under Mr Grimm's fuming, which is a step under ab2's seething, which is properly a much more violent emotion than is appropriate with your example, unless Aunt Agnes crashed Dad's Honda while giving roadhead to her flavor-of-the-month boytoy the last time she was in town and then told the teenagers about it. MW provides the appropriate " be in a state of suppressed agitation, worry, or resentment", but Oxford Dictionaries considers stewing to only be a synonym for worrying. It's worth noting that this might be an Americanism. "We need to travel all the way to Montreal to pick up my sister," Mom says. As others have mentioned in the comments, the word that my dialect uses for restrained-but-hot-with-anger is Stew
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