suntan
Americannoun
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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
Edgewell Personal Care Co., the maker of Schick blazers and Banana Boat suntan lotion, has trimmed certain varieties of its anti-bacteria wipes Wet Ones, among others.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
Sophie would rather apply suntan lotion to her own back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
You can smell the coconut suntan lotion and hear Duran Duran playing in the background.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
He took out a tube of suntan lotion, squeezed a bit onto his hand, and passed the tube on.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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“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
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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
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
The smiling, suntanned participants joined sessions on team-building and learned how to collectively protect and promote the rights of patients and drug users to humane medical and social treatment, including ST.
From Slate ● May 22, 2017
At 75 he looks fit and suntanned, a Platonic ideal of the Aussie bloke.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2016
His suntanned face creased with his big smile of wonder.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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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
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How else to explain such an affinity for one-hour photo developing, instant replay, touch- tone phones and suntanning parlors?
From Time Magazine Archive
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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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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.