sunny

From Middle English sunni, equivalent to sun +‎ -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian sunnich (“sunny”), Dutch zonnig (“sunny”), German Low German sünnig (“sunny”), German sonnig (“sunny”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌni/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ʌni
• 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, of a person or a person's mood) Cheerful.

   a sunny disposition

   • Shakespeare

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

   • Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge

     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.

4. Of or relating to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; brilliant; radiant.
   • Edmund Spenser

     sunny beams

   • William Shakespeare

     sunny locks

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

sunny (not comparable)

1. (US, regional) sunny side up

sunny (plural sunnies)

1. A sunfish.