MUTTSU-RI むっつり
Meanings
1. Describes someone being taciturn, unsmiling, unfriendly, or silently sulking without expressing what they think or feel.
2. In MUTTSU-RI SUKEBE, describes someone who outwardly seems uninterested in sexual matters but is secretly very interested in them.
Examples
My wife is silently ignoring me with a sullen expression, and I have no idea what upset her.
何が気に入らないのか、妻はむっつりとしたまま無視をしてくる。
That person is a muttsuri sukebe—a closet lecher.
あの人はむっつり（スケベ）だ。
Dogmatic Opinion
The first expression that comes to my mind is MUTTSU-RI SUKEBE.
It describes someone who behaves in public as though sex, dirty jokes, and erotic topics do not interest them, while privately being very interested indeed.
In a workplace obsessed with compliance, perhaps anyone with a sex drive is eventually forced to become a MUTTSU-RI SUKEBE.
Simply saying “He is MUTTSU-RI” can therefore suggest hidden lechery. But MUTTSU-RI TO SHITE IRU—“is sitting there MUTTSU-RI”—usually describes a temporary change into silent displeasure, not sexuality.
Between spouses, this silence can carry the message: “Surely you know why I’m angry without my having to tell you?”
The tragedy is that the cause is often so minor that the other person genuinely has no idea.
Proximate Expression
churlish
dour
glum
morose
sulky
sullen
lecher
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Sullen, sulky, taciturn, silent and unsmiling, or giving someone the silent treatment may fit sense 1. MUTTSU-RI SUKEBE is colloquial and can be rendered as secretly lecherous, a closet lecher, or more crudely a closet pervert depending on tone. The sexual sense depends strongly on the expression and context.
