Meanings
sunburn1
plural sunburns
- countablerareuncountableSuntan.
The neutral colours showed off her café au lait sunburn.
1956, Ian Fleming, chapter 22, in Diamonds Are Forever
present singular third person sunburns · participle present sunburning · participle past sunburned · past sunburned · Commonwealth participle past sunburnt · Commonwealth past sunburnt
- intransitiveTo receive a sunburn.
c. 1613, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, London: D.N. and T.C., 1678, Act V, Scene 2, p. 64, I have brought Your grace a Salamanders skin, to keep you From sun-burning.
2 more examples
1724, Aaron Hill, The Plain Dealer, No. 81, 28 December, 1724, London: S. Richardson and A. Wilde, Volume 2, p. 199, […] there is a Country, in the World, call’d Turkey; where Women are secur’d against the Danger of Sun-burning, by being kept out of the open Air, and lock’d up, like other Jewels, in Places where no Mischief can reach ’em.
All foliage is necessary in Texas to keep the tomato fruit from sunburning.
2012, Greg Grant, Texas Fruit & Vegetable Gardening, Minneapolis: Cool Springs Press, →ISBN, pages 148–149 - transitiveTo burn or tan (someone's skin) by the sun; to allow (a part of one's body) to become sunburnt.
My Aunt charg’d me not to pull off my Glove for fear of Sun-burning my hand.
1668, John Dryden, Sir Martin Mar-all, London: H. Herringman, act II, page 113 more examples
As we crossed the Colorado-Utah border I saw God in the sky in the form of huge gold sunburning clouds above the desert […]
1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3“Oh shoot, I’ve sunburned the top half of my boobs,” she said, frowning down her chest.
1989, Barbara Kingsolver, chapter 7, in The Bean Trees, New York: Harper and Row, page 95If you are serious about protecting your eyes, look into wearing goggles or alpine glasses that protect the sides of the eyes as well as the direct path of light into them. I once hiked up Mary’s Glacier wearing only a hat. That night after the hike I couldn’t sleep. I had sunburnt my eyes. It felt like hot pokers were being stuffed into my head. I could not open my eyes for four days.
1998, Kevin Ryan, The Illustrated Guide to Snowboarding, Masters Press, The McGraw-Hill Companies, →ISBN, page 106
Sunburn2
- slanglifestyleThe ship of characters Sunny (or Omori) and Aubrey from the videogame Omori.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA burn on the tissue of crop plants or their fruits (especially if they are rich in water like tomatoes, grapes, apples, gooseberries) caused by excess exposure to the sun's rays.
More synonyms by meaning
nounredness of the skin caused by exposure to the rays of the sun
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
sunburn · noun, verb
- Middle English*sunne burnen
- Englishsunburn
From Middle English *sunne burnen, *sonne brennen, *sunne brennen (suggested by derivatives sonne brennynge, sunne brennynge (“sunburn”, literally “sun-burning”) and sunne brente (“sunburnt”), equivalent to sun + burn. Compare West Frisian sinnebrân (“sunburn”), Dutch zonnebrand (“sunburn”), German Sonnenbrand (“sunburn”), Swedish solbränna (“sunburn”), and Icelandic sólbruni (“sunburn”), as well as Old English sunbryne (“sunburn”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Sunburn · proper noun
From sunburn, in reference to Sunny's name and Aubrey's hot-headed, "fiery" personality.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَرْق شَمْسِيّ, لَفْح الشَّمْس
- حَرْق شَمْسِيّ (ḥarq šamsiyy)burn on skin
- لَفْح الشَّمْس (lafḥ aš-šams)burn on skin
Chinese Mandarin 曬傷 /晒伤, 曬熟 /晒熟
- 曬傷 /晒伤 (shàishāng)burn on skin
- 曬熟 /晒熟 (shàishóu)burn on skin
Czech spálení, spálit se
- spáleníburn on skin
- spálit seto receive a sunburn
Dutch verbranden
- verbrandento receive a sunburn
Finnish auringonpolttama, polttaa itsensä auringossa
- auringonpolttamaburn on skin
- polttaa itsensä auringossato receive a sunburn
French coup de soleil, actinite
- coup de soleilburn on skin
- actiniteburn on skin
- attraper un coup de soleilto receive a sunburn
German Sonnenbrand, Sonnenbrand bekommen
- Sonnenbrandburn on skin
- Sonnenbrand bekommento receive a sunburn
Hungarian leégés
- leégésburn on skin
Irish dó gréine, griandó
- dó gréineburn on skin
- griandóburn on skin
Italian eritema solare, scottatura solare
- eritema solareburn on skin
- scottatura solareburn on skin
- ustione solareburn on skin
Japanese 日焼け, 日に焼ける
- 日焼け (hiyake)burn on skin
- 日に焼ける (hi-ni yakeru)to receive a sunburn
Korean 햇볕에 탐
- 햇볕에 탐 (haetbyeote tam)burn on skin
Malay selaran matahari
- selaran matahariburn on skin
Māori tīkākā
- tīkākāburn on skin
Polish oparzenie słoneczne, dostawać oparzenia słonecznego
- oparzenie słoneczneburn on skin
- dostawać oparzenia słonecznegoto receive a sunburn
- dostać oparzenia słonecznegoto receive a sunburn
Portuguese queimadura solar, escaldão
- queimadura solarburn on skin
- escaldãoburn on skin
- apanhar um escaldãoto receive a sunburn
Russian со́лнечный ожо́г, обгоре́ть на со́лнце
- со́лнечный ожо́г (sólnečnyj ožóg)burn on skin
- обгоре́ть на со́лнце (obgorétʹ na sólnce)to receive a sunburn
- получи́ть со́лнечный ожо́г (polučítʹ sólnečnyj ožóg)to receive a sunburn
Scottish Gaelic losgadh na grèine
- losgadh na grèineburn on skin
Slovak spálenie, spáliť sa
- spálenieburn on skin
- spáliť sato receive a sunburn
Spanish quemadura solar, quemadura de piel
- quemadura solarburn on skin
- quemadura de pielburn on skin
- quemaduraburn on skin
- quemarse la pielto receive a sunburn
Swedish solbränna, solskada
- solbrännaburn on skin
- solskadaburn on skin
Tagalog katim, paso ng araw
- katimburn on skin
- paso ng arawburn on skin
Thai การถูกแดดเผา, ถูกแดดเผา
- การถูกแดดเผา (Kār t̄hūk dæd p̄heā)burn on skin
- ถูกแดดเผา (T̄hūk dæd p̄heā)burn on skin
- ผิวไหม้ (P̄hiw h̄ịm̂)burn on skin
- แดดเผา (Dæd p̄heā)burn on skin
- การแก้ผิวไหม้ (Kār kæ̂ p̄hiw h̄ịm̂)burn on skin
Turkish güneş yanığı, yanmak
- güneş yanığıburn on skin
- yanmakto receive a sunburn
Ukrainian сонячний опік, обгорати на сонці
- сонячний опік (sonjačnyj opik)burn on skin
- обгорати на сонці (obhoraty na sonci)to receive a sunburn
- обгоріти на сонці (obhority na sonci)to receive a sunburn
Vietnamese cháy nắng
- cháy nắngburn on skin
Cite this entry
sunburn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunburn
“sunburn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunburn. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sunburn,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunburn.
Source: sunburn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.