Churlish, a.
1. Like a churl; rude; cross-grained; ungracious; surly; illiberal; niggardly. "Churlish benefits." Ld. Burleigh. Half mankind maintain a churlish strife. Cowper.
2. Wanting pliancy; unmanageable; unyielding; not easily wrought; as, a churlish soil; the churlish and intractable nature of some minerals. Boyle.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for churlish; he lists it under morose.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.