sunstroke

American  

[suhn-strohk] / ˈsʌnˌstroʊk /

noun

Pathology.

1. a sudden and sometimes fatal affection due to exposure to the sun's rays or to excessive heat, marked by prostration with or without fever, convulsion, and coma.

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sunstroke British  

/ ˈsʌnˌstrəʊk /

noun

1. heatstroke caused by prolonged exposure to intensely hot sunlight

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Etymology

Origin of sunstroke

First recorded in 1850–55; sun + stroke ¹

Example Sentences

It's not every day that Father Christmas finds himself briefing his elves about the hazards of sunstroke, but this summer northern Finland has seen temperatures hover around 30C for days on end.

From BBC • Jul. 24, 2025

One U.S. labor official, according to Ngai, reported that 88 deportees died of heat exhaustion or sunstroke in July of 1955 after being dropped off in the border city of Mexicali in 112°F July heat.

From Salon • Sep. 21, 2024

“I didn’t know what sunstroke was, and nobody had told me what could happen.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2024

On the first day, said Mr. Gao, 39, he had sunstroke.

From New York Times • Dec. 3, 2023

Having completely abandoned his domestic obligations, he spent entire nights in the courtyard watching the course of the stars and he almost contracted sunstroke from trying to establish an exact method to ascertain noon.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez