suntan
Americannoun
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suntans
plural
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a browning or a brown color of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or a sunlamp; tan.
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Also called mayfair tan, merida. a light to medium yellow-brown.
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Also called pastel orange. a medium orange color.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of suntan
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:
While there are some ingredients in suntan lotions - like oxybenzone - that can cause environmental damage to coral reefs, there is not evidence to suggest it poses a risk to humans, Dr McCann says.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
Marker, who also surfs, plays guitar and rides motorcycles, is 63 going on 16, with silver hair and a skate-park suntan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Douglas attributes the love to the fact that it “tastes like real ingredients that your body recognizes and resonates with, rather than many that might be cheaper but often taste like Coppertone suntan lotion smells.”
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2023
You can smell the coconut suntan lotion and hear Duran Duran playing in the background.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
She hadn't told him that he was prettier than any girl, and that his skin was like sunshine with a suntan.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
“They have the best suntans you’ve ever seen in your life,” said Kasen’s mom, Katie Wenzel, 45, who runs a local restaurant and motel.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2021
The people who lived here before me danced in Bourbon Street clubs; the balcony was for suntans.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019
Bling, suntans and Florida and New York are in.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2017
Many officials spent their time in a secure room reading signals-intelligence reports or working on their suntans by the pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2016
He was wearing a blue shirt and suntans and white socks and black shoes.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
“It wasn’t that I was in the French Riviera getting suntanned with Keith Richards.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
NOV 2008: Berlusconi hails Barack Obama as "handsome, young and also suntanned", after he was elected the United States' first Black president.
From Reuters ● Jun. 12, 2023
Alas, it is in fact Dame Joan’s husband Percy, the famous Percy, who is suntanned, jolly and very amused that I have mistaken him for the PR guy.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 2, 2018
He is fifty-nine and has a loose-legged stroll, tousled salt-and-pepper hair, and sunken, suntanned cheeks.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 13, 2018
His suntanned face creased with his big smile of wonder.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
At this time of year, a person can go ice fishing and recline, shirtless, by the hole, suntanning from reflecting light.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 18, 2019
But what about addiction to suntanning, bodybuilding, fortune telling, or love?
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2015
"I'm an evangelist against this foolish suntanning habit," says U.C.L.A.
From Time Magazine Archive
How else to explain such an affinity for one-hour photo developing, instant replay, touch- tone phones and suntanning parlors?
From Time Magazine Archive
The students spent the entire hour speaking in French about suntanning.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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