sunny

 

From Middle English sunni, from Old English *sunniġ. Cognate with West Frisian sinnich, Low German sünnig, Dutch zonnig, German sonnig. Equivalent to sun +‎ -y.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌni/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌni
• Hyphenation: sun‧ny
• Homophone: sonny

sunny (comparative sunnier, superlative sunniest)

1. (of weather or a day) Featuring a lot of sunshine.

   Whilst it may be sunny today, the weather forecast is predicting rain.

2. (of a place) Receiving a lot of sunshine.

   the sunny side of a hill

   I would describe Spain as sunny, but it's nothing in comparison to the Sahara.

3. (figuratively) Cheerful.

   a person with a sunny disposition

   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     My decayed fair / A sunny look of his would soon repair.

   • 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. (please specify the chapter number)”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:

     A gleam of sun shining through the unsashed window, and chequering the dark workshop with a broad patch of light, fell full upon him, as though attracted by his sunny heart.

   • 1849, The Literary Garland, page 244:

     Unloved, and uncaressed, her childhood unbrightened by the sunny mirth of that age, her girlhood a gloomy period of austere seclusion […]

   • 2023 August 8, Janan Ganesh, “The oneness of Ron DeSantis and Rishi Sunak”, in Financial Times‎^[1]:

     Sunak is a sunnier character than DeSantis, who could illuminate a stage by getting off it. He is also the more reliable friend of Ukraine. Other than that, their oneness is striking.

   • 2023 November 18, Blake Montgomery, Dani Anguiano, “OpenAI fires co-founder and CEO Sam Altman for allegedly lying to company board”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Altman tweeted a sunny message after the combative announcement.

4. Of or relating to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; shiny; radiant.
   • 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Visions of the Worlds Vanitie”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:

     sunny beams

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     the four winds blow in from every coast
     Renownèd suitors, and her sunny locks
     Hang on her temples like a golden fleece

• (weather, day): bright; sunshiny
• (place): sunlit
• (person): bright, cheerful

sunny (not comparable)

1. (US, regional) sunny side up

sunny (plural sunnies)

1. A sunfish.