sunburn
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
-
Technical name: erythema solare. inflammation of the skin caused by overexposure to the sun
-
another word for suntan
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
sunburntadjective
-
unsunburnedadjective
-
unsunburntadjective
-
well-sunburnedadjective
-
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:
Instead, he reverted to being the gangly 24-year-old from the Italian Alps hoping to avoid a sunburn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“I like to think of this as a sunburn: The first day you get it, it’s really bad. Day after day, it does get a little bit better, but there’s still a burn.”
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 26, 2026
Even after the researchers accounted for age, sex, history of sunburn, and family history of melanoma, indoor tanning was still associated with a 2.85-fold increase in melanoma risk.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 15, 2025
UV radiation can injure DNA and generate oxidative stress in skin cells, which in turn triggers inflammation that causes the familiar redness, pain, and blistering of sunburn.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025
“A sunburn is the least of my worries,” said Andrius.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
In times of extreme heat, sunburns are even more dangerous because they limit the body’s ability to cool off.
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
There are currently claims that seed oils cause cancer, gut issues and depression, or can leave you with chronic inflammation or make you more vulnerable to sunburns.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024
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
Regularly getting sunburned can increase the risk of skin cancer.
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
The hem of my dress was ripped, and my face and neck were sunburned from the morning sun.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
"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 Shakespeare, William
“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 Hildibrand, Henri Théophile
“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 Hildibrand, Henri Théophile
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 Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Getting sunburnt regularly increases the chances of skin cancer.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025
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
Mom is claiming that getting sunburnt is a necessary condition for spending all day in the sun.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
The probe focused on the 60-year-old Fall, who “mildly resembles a Western bandit with his black hat and his sunburnt face” and “smokes the worst cigars in Washington,” the Brooklyn Eagle reported.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2022
Scooping up handfuls of the sunburnt dust he sifted it over his grey head, and groaned, and the groan went to the son’s heart.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
