Sunscreen

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A topical substance formulated to protect the skin from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation by absorbing, reflecting or scattering ultraviolet rays. countable, uncountable

    "Jill had Mark apply sunscreen to her back. "Bet these river guides get a lot of skin cancer", he said. He had a slappy, unpleasant way of doing it, and she struggled to keep her balance."

  2. 2
    a cream spread on the skin; contains a chemical (as PABA) to filter out ultraviolet light and so protect from sunburn wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To apply sunscreen to (someone). transitive

    "He glanced over his shoulder as I sunscreened his back."

Synonyms

All synonyms
sunblocksun blockersuntan creamsuntan lotion

Example

More examples

"If you don't want to put on sunscreen, that's your problem. Just don't come complaining to me when you get a sunburn."

Etymology

From sun + screen.

Related phrases

organic compoundtitanium dioxide

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.