sunburn

[ suhn-burn ]

/ ˈsʌnˌbɜrn /

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See synonyms for: sunburned / sunburnt on Thesaurus.com

noun

inflammation of the skin caused by overexposure to the sun or a sunlamp.

verb (used with or without object), sun·burned or sun·burnt, sun·burn·ing.

to affect or be affected with sunburn: An hour in the sun sunburned me severely. I sunburn easily.

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Origin of sunburn

First recorded in 1520–30; sun + burn¹

OTHER WORDS FROM sunburn

un·sun·burned, adjectiveun·sun·burnt, adjectivewell-sunburned, adjectivewell-sunburnt, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sunburn in a sentence

By day's end, you were bone dry, sunburnt and cut all over from corn burn.
Yes, Kids Need 'Shitty' Jobs|Justin Green|January 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Set in a castle in the Italian town of Montale, the novel is mostly something of a sunburnt idyll by the pool.
Martin Amis' Sexual Revolution|Olivia Cole|May 10, 2010|DAILY BEAST
A remarkable man he was indeed; simple and earnest in manner, with a fine eye, a full dark beard and sunburnt face.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Presently she was again disturbed by the appearance of a round, sunburnt, smiling face at the kitchen door.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland

Sunburnt and vigorous, as he stood there among the pale-faced townsmen, he seemed more than ever full of power.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
Michael and Alan were in their element during that sunburnt hour of cricket before afternoon school.
Sinister Street, vol. 1|Compton Mackenzie
"Allow me," says a pleasant-voiced sunburnt man as he stoops to remove some of his things to make room for us.
Round the Wonderful World|G. E. Mitton

British Dictionary definitions for sunburn

sunburn

/ (ˈsʌnˌbɜːn) /

noun

inflammation of the skin caused by overexposure to the sunTechnical name: erythema solare

another word for suntan

Derived forms of sunburn

sunburnt or sunburned, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012