sunny
Americanadjective
-
full of or exposed to sunlight
-
radiating good humour
-
of or resembling the sun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sunny
Explanation
Sunny means shining with bright sunlight, like a beautiful sunny Saturday at the beach. It can also mean cheerful, like your sunny, upbeat best friend. When the sun is shining, it's a sunny day, and when you're smiling and friendly, you're sunny too. Sunny has been used in this figurative way since the 16th century, and in the 1830s, sunny side came to mean "optimistic outlook." However, if you order your eggs sunny side up, it just means you'll get two fried eggs with bright yellow, runny yolks.
Vocabulary lists containing sunny
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 6
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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:
After the spell of showery weather earlier this week, a strong area of high pressure is set to bring bright and sunny weather to much of the UK this weekend.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Other apps might even be inclined to deploy a sunny icon, because technically it is going to be warm in most of that area, and watery only in a different section.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
While the market has risen, its gains haven’t quite kept up with Wall Street’s increasingly sunny outlook for corporate earnings growth.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
The researchers found evidence of new particle formation on more than 80% of sunny days, suggesting the phenomenon is common in this part of the Arctic.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
Soon they were in view of Neel’s house, where his mother and Rupa were outside in a sunny corner, hanging clothes on the line.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
It will then turn drier and sunnier for all parts over the weekend with some light winds.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
With high pressure building, it will turn drier and sunnier for most parts of the United Kingdom.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Before relocating to a quieter, sunnier place by the beach, I lived in and around New York City for nearly a decade.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
The stereotypical British émigré used to be the retiree packing up for sunnier climes in Spain or France.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
I thought it'd get sunnier once we crossed the bridge, but the weather’s overcast, a dull gray.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
July has been the sunniest month on record for the UK, as well as the driest July on record for England and Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
The month of July was also the "sunniest month ever observed" in Britain, the Met Office said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The UK overall recorded its fourth sunniest spring since records began in 1910.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
The school operates in Redding, she said, because it is one of the sunniest cities in the United States, allowing for more than 300 flying days per year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
And the other day I heard Atal, who has the sunniest nature of us all, crying because he had no one to play with.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
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.
