suntanned

IPA/ˈsʌntænd/
IPA/ˈsʌntænd/

suntanned — adjective

  • suntannedpositive
  • more suntannedcomparative
  • most suntannedsuperlative

1. describes skin that has become brown and healthy-looking after spending time in

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes skin that has become brown and healthy-looking after spending time in the sun — for example, calling someone's suntanned shoulders or arms a sign they have been outdoors a lot.

Example

Kasia's suntanned arms showed how much time she had spent planting flowers in her garden.

suntanned + body-part noun (arms)

Esme wore a white sundress that made her suntanned shoulders stand out against the fabric.

Common collocations
  • suntanned arms
  • suntanned shoulders
  • suntanned legs
  • suntanned face
  • suntanned back
  • suntanned skin
Synonyms
  • tanned

    more common and general; 'suntanned' adds emphasis that the sun caused the colour

  • bronzed

    suggests a deeper, richer brown colour, often with admiration

  • sun-kissed

    more poetic and lighter; suggests a gentle, attractive tan

Antonyms
  • pale

    having light-coloured skin with no tan

  • fair

    naturally light-skinned, especially when not exposed to the sun

Grammar Patterns

suntanned + body-part noun

Usage Note

Always describes an attractive or healthy-looking result, not a painful sunburn. The adjective is most often placed before a body-part noun such as arms, shoulders, legs, face, or back.

Common Mistakes

He looked suntanned and sunburnt after a day at the beach.
He looked suntanned after spending a week at the beach.
Being 'suntanned' means having an attractive tan; a sunburn is a painful reddening of the skin, not the same thing.

suntanned — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Both 'tanned' and 'suntanned' describe skin darkened by the sun, but 'suntanned' places more emphasis on the sun as the cause and is used almost exclusively for body parts exposed to sunlight. 'Bronzed' implies a rich, admired colour — someone might be described as 'bronzed' after a luxury beach holiday, while 'suntanned' is more everyday. 'Sun-kissed' is a lighter, more poetic term; it suggests a gentle glow rather than a deep tan. 'Browned' is the most neutral and least common for skin colour; it can also describe food cooking. To compare: 'After working on the farm all summer, Kasia had suntanned arms and shoulders.' — 'The actor arrived at the premiere with a bronzed glow from his holiday in Greece.' — 'Her sun-kissed cheeks gave her a fresh, youthful look.'

tanned ↗bronzed ↗sun-kissed ↗browned ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchEnglish

Formed by joining 'sun' (from Old English sunne, the star that provides light and warmth) with 'tanned' (the past participle of 'tan', borrowed from Old French tanner — originally meaning to convert animal hide into leather; from the 1700s it was also used for skin becoming brown from the sun).

First known use

1809

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1