sunburn
Americannoun
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sunburns
plural
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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Technical name: erythema solare. inflammation of the skin caused by overexposure to the sun
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another word for suntan
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sunburntadjective
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unsunburnedadjective
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unsunburntadjective
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well-sunburnedadjective
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well-sunburntadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sunburn
Vocabulary lists containing sunburn
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.
See Examples For:
She first experienced severe sunburn on an overcast day in May 2025.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
"As a result, many apples are dropping from the trees prematurely, remaining very small, or suffering from sunburn damage," the agency said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
She had taken a photo of her burned skin; Miller claims that that was a sunburn.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Zinc oxide is widely used in mineral sunscreen because it blocks UVA rays, which contribute to skin aging, as well as UVB rays, which cause sunburn and increase the risk of skin cancer.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
But that doesn’t stop my cheeks from feeling as warm as a sunburn.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
Although many people associate UV light with sunburns and skin damage, it plays an important role in numerous technologies.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Wearing white cowboy hats and sunburns, they were there to scout sites for future artwork, which they would go on to build, blast out and assemble on an epic scale over the next decade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026
Camp counselor gigs that paid in bug spray and sunburns.
From Salon ● May 26, 2025
More than 2,300 more have suffered heat stroke, dehydration and sunburns.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
Fun times, made even more fun by the thousands of bug bites and peeling sunburns I always showed up with on the first day of school.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
In the park, a sunburned figure itches an arm cast; another slumps on a bench, picking at his eyes.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
He’d minnowed through sunburned madmen on winding Alpine passes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
You should not put petroleum jelly or ice on sunburned skin.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025
You can get sunburned even on a cloudy day, so don’t take the absence of visible sun for granted.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
He had broad shoulders and bulging arms, hands like hammers, and the leathery skin of a man who’d been sunburned so many times his naturally creamy complexion had grown tough and brown as rawhide.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
"There is one thing we all agree on, that you've got to avoid sunburning and avoid overexposure," he said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 19, 2010
“Dinny! how can you!” cried Jack, angrily, as he saw the tears start into his brother’s eyes, and that in spite of the sunburning he turned haggard and pale.
From Off to the Wilds Being the Adventures of Two Brothers by Henri Théophile Hildibrand
“An’ did ye see the murthering baste?” cried Dinny, who looked white through his sunburning.
From Off to the Wilds Being the Adventures of Two Brothers by Henri Théophile Hildibrand
If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook.
From The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
It is so desirable to make outbuildings neat and clean, and so important to keep trees from sunburning, etc., that a durable whitewash as cheaply and easily made as possible is very important.
From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson
Would you buy a cauliflower that looks like it's been sunburnt or a cucumber that's curled back on itself?
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
We depend on our cells being able to divide and multiply, whether it's to replace sunburnt skin or replenish our blood supply and recover from injury.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
Legs tucked underneath me as my head lolled to the side, my whole body buzzed with sunburnt warmth and fatigue from a day of walking through echo-y museum hallways and cobblestoned streets across Paris.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2023
Mom is claiming that getting sunburnt is a necessary condition for spending all day in the sun.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
We would return home weary and sunburnt, carrying small jars half-filled with grasshoppers.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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