sunflower
Americannoun
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sunflowers
plural
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any of various composite plants of the genus Helianthus, as H. annuus, having showy, yellow-rayed flower heads often 12 inches (30 centimeters) wide, and edible seeds that yield an oil with a wide variety of uses: the state flower of Kansas.
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Also called aster. Furniture. a conventionalized flower motif carved in the center panels of a Connecticut chest.
noun
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any of several American plants of the genus Helianthus, esp H. annuus, having very tall thick stems, large flower heads with yellow rays, and seeds used as food, esp for poultry: family Asteraceae (composites) See also Jerusalem artichoke
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the oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used as a salad oil, in the manufacture of margarine, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunflower
First recorded in 1555–65; translation of Latin flōs sōlis “flower of the sun”
Vocabulary lists containing sunflower
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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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:
On the bank of one of its branches, farmer Federica Vidali looked anxiously at her sunflower field.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Vegetable-oil prices instead fell 4.6%—the first monthly decline since the beginning of the year—dragged by lower palm and soybean oil prices, which outweighed gains in rapeseed and sunflower oils.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
To start, each box contains sunflower lecithin, which is extracted from sunflower oil, a seed oil.
From Salon ● May 23, 2026
The 33-year-old wore a big smile after he crossed home and was showered in sunflower seeds.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2026
I was surprised when I found myself in my own yard, with Mr. Whiskers there on the steps, curled up next to the sunflower I’d planted in a coffee can.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Adams said straw, mushrooms, corn, rye and sunflowers are great bioremediators that can help to repair damage to soils.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Plus a flower shop next door called Verdant that has flowers I’ve genuinely never seen anywhere else: pink sunflowers that aren’t dyed, just extraordinary things.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
In Borrego Springs, you’ll find a mini explosion of sunflowers, desert sand-verbena, basket evening primrose and even elusive desert lilies.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
And so the same peloton will be hurtling along the cobbles a couple of months before gliding through the sunflowers of a French summer.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
He’ll paint landscapes, still lifes, scenes of cafes at night, furniture, rooms, flowering trees, flowers—he is about to begin painting his favorite again, sunflowers.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
