sunken

[suhng-kuhn]

adjective

1. having sunk or been sunk beneath the surface; submerged.

2. having settled to a lower level, as walls.

3. situated or lying on a lower level.

   a sunken living room.

4. hollow; depressed.

   sunken cheeks.

verb

1. Obsolete.,  a past participle of sink.

sunken

/ ˈsʌŋkən /

verb

1. a past participle of sink

adjective

1. unhealthily hollow

   sunken cheeks

2. situated at a lower level than the surrounding or usual one

3. situated under water; submerged

4. depressed; low

   sunken spirits

Other Word Forms

• half-sunken adjective
• unsunken adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sunken¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, past participle of sinken to sink

Example Sentences

Have you ever fallen victim to a cake with a sunken center?

Read more on Salon

Footage on local media show the collapsed part of the building completely sunken in, with large slabs of concrete sticking out.

Read more on BBC

Most on board were soldiers with sunken cheeks, emaciated after their years behind bars.

Read more on BBC

"We then discovered it was a plane crash and saw the sunken hole the crash had created in the ground," she said.

Read more on BBC

Children gaze with sunken eyes and swollen bellies, their cries of hunger echoing into a silence broken only by the roar of bombs.

Read more on Salon