sunburn
Americannoun
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:
Anyone can get sunburn, including people with darker skin tones, and the charity is reminding the public to stay safe over what could be a sunny bank holiday across much of the UK.
From BBC ● May 21, 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
I managed to spray it with an ointment Kevin had used for sunburn.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
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
Heat-related illnesses can range from sunburns and heat rashes to more dangerous conditions such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, according to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
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
Four hours later, sunburned and more winded than I like to admit, I reached a hamlet where I later hitched a ride back to the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2025
Some are asking for help and advice, others actually want to show off their badly sunburned bodies.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
“You won’t give anyone a chance,” said Laurie, with a sidelong glance and a little more color than before in his sunburned face.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
"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
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)
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 was very surreal but to be honest, I'm not sunburnt now so I'm very happy," Bryan later remarked.
From BBC ● May 12, 2024
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
Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; then back to the common room once more, with sunburnt necks, thinking longingly of this time next day, when it would all be over.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
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.
