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
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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:
Fat mums and hydrangeas, perhaps punctuated with a sunflower or two, arranged in short vases that don’t interrupt conversation.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Winterich kept otherwise ordinary gifts — including a sunflower mug chosen because her mother knew yellow was her favorite color, because her mother would never give her another one.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
BOROVE, Ukraine—Earlier this summer, a small crowd gathered around six freshly exhumed human skeletons protruding from the ground on the edge of a sunflower field in Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
“I was almost like a sunflower, constantly facing and chasing actor Jeon.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow robes, which she had accessorized with a large sunflower in her hair.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
A field of unharvested sunflowers had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings, before they were startled into the air by a sparrowhawk.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 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
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
It’s on the same plot as our old cottage, with the same view over peaceful fields of wheat and sunflowers, but with a more-solid foundation, crack-free walls and better heating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
When it rained, which was almost every day for a while, his dirt roof with sunflowers growing in it leaked.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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