adjective
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full of or exposed to sunlight
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radiating good humour
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of or resembling the sun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunny
Explanation
Sunny means shining with bright sunlight, like a beautiful sunny Saturday at the beach. It can also mean cheerful, like your sunny, upbeat best friend. When the sun is shining, it's a sunny day, and when you're smiling and friendly, you're sunny too. Sunny has been used in this figurative way since the 16th century, and in the 1830s, sunny side came to mean "optimistic outlook." However, if you order your eggs sunny side up, it just means you'll get two fried eggs with bright yellow, runny yolks.
Vocabulary lists containing sunny
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sunny southern European countries, particularly Italy and Spain, are expected to see the biggest gains.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
According to the Equasis shipping database, Sinoguards also owns the Honduras-based Sunny Ocean, a floating armory that successfully fended off an attack by Yemen’s Houthi militants in the Red Sea in 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
When she runs back to Sunny, he finds out that she’s left him, too.
From Salon • May 11, 2026
Escobar says Frankel asked her to work on the film after hearing her 2025 song, Sunny in London.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
Sunny next to him doing the same thing.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
