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:
"To go from thinking your child has sunburn to them having an extremely rare genetic disorder is mind-blowing," she said.
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
He had a sunburn and he needed a shave.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
It provides broader spectrum protection than other ingredients, shielding skin from both UVA rays—which penetrate deep into the skin, causing premature aging—and UVB rays, which cause sunburns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
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
Camp counselor gigs that paid in bug spray and sunburns.
From Salon ● May 26, 2025
This will not only protect against the UV damage that can cause dryness but also the damage that causes sunburns and, potentially, skin cancer.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Current Mr. O’Doyle was much larger, with less hair and red peeling skin from sunburns.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
In the park, a sunburned figure itches an arm cast; another slumps on a bench, picking at his eyes.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Whispers were going around the sunburned, sleepy crowds huddled on their suitcases that there were no flights until Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
They ended up winning the whole thing, beating some of the nation’s best teams, despite the fact they’d stayed up late playing Heads Up and were sunburned from a beach visit the day before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
You should not put petroleum jelly or ice on sunburned skin.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025
By the third week of classes, plenty of kids had been sunburned to a bufriedo-like golden brown from days spent chatting outside in the shadeless dorm circle during free periods.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
"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
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
“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
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
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
"We all need to take steps to protect ourselves from the sun's harmful UV rays. Getting sunburnt just once every two years can triple your risk of skin cancer," she adds.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2022
Mom is claiming that getting sunburnt is a necessary condition for spending all day in the sun.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
Yesterday he had driven an elderly couple from Scotland, both with spotted faces and fluffy white hair so thin it exposed their sunburnt scalps.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
