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Surly vs Obstreperous - What's the difference?

surly | obstreperous |

As adjectives the difference between surly and obstreperous

is that surly is (obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious while obstreperous is attended by, or making, a loud and tumultuous noise; boisterous.

As an adverb surly

is (obsolete) in an arrogant or supercilious manner.

surly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.
  • Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
  • Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
    • The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

    Adverb

    (er)
  • (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
  • * 1623 , , Julius Caesar , I.iii,
    • Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly

    obstreperous

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Attended by, or making, a loud and tumultuous noise; boisterous.
  • * 1809 , , Knickerbocker's History of New York , ch. 7:
    • [O]n a clear still summer evening you may hear from the battery of New York the obstreperous peals of broad-mouthed laughter of the Dutch negroes at Communipaw.
  • * 1855 , , "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came":
    • . . . my hope
    Dwindled into a ghost not fit to cope
    With that obstreperous joy success would bring
  • * 1918 , , On the Stairs , ch. 3:
    • He developed an obstreperous baritone . . . and he made himself rather preponderant, whether he happened to know the song or not.
  • Stubbornly defiant; disobedient; resistant to authority or control, whether in a noisy manner or not.
  • * 1827 , , The Journal of Sir Walter Scott , October 1827:
    • [W]e came to Whittingham. Thence to Newcastle, where an obstreperous horse retarded us for an hour at least.
  • * 1903 , , "A Sandshore Wooing" in Short Stories: 1902-1903 :
    • My dress was draggled, my hat had slipped back, and the kinks and curls of my obstreperous hair were something awful.
  • * 1915 , , The Gray Dawn , ch. 70:
    • They reviled the committee collectively and singly; bragged that they would shoot Coleman, Truett, Durkee, and some others at sight; flourished weapons, and otherwise became so publicly and noisily obstreperous that the committee decided they needed a lesson.

    Synonyms

    * (making a tumultuous noise) clamorous, loud, noisy, vociferous * (noisily defiant) recalcitrant, uncooperative, unruly

    Derived terms

    * obstreperously * obstreperousness * stroppy