sunken

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adjective sunk·en \ˈsəŋ-kən\

: completely covered with water : lying at the bottom of a sea, lake, etc.

: curving inward because of illness, age, etc.

: lying or built at a lower level than the surrounding area

Full Definition of SUNKEN

1

:  submerged; especially :  lying at the bottom of a body of water

2

a :  hollow, recessed <sunken cheeks>

b :  lying in a depression <a sunken garden>

c :  settled below the normal level

d :  constructed below the normal floor level <a sunken living room>

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Examples of SUNKEN

1. Her eyes were sunken and lifeless.
2. <our convalescing guest's sunken cheeks soon filled out on a diet of my mother's cooking>

Origin of SUNKEN

Middle English sonkyn, past participle of sinken to sink

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to SUNKEN

Synonyms

concave, dented, depressed, dished, indented, recessed, hollow

Antonyms

bulging, cambered, convex, protruding, protrusive, protuberant

Related Words

alveolar, cavernous, crescentic, cuplike, cupped, cuppy, recurved; dimpled, pockmarked; compressed, condensed, contracted, diminished, reduced

Near Antonyms

ballooning, bloated, blown up, bulbous, distended, enlarged, expanded, extended, inflated, jutting, projecting, puffed, puffy, risen, swollen; domed, global, globular, round, rounded, spherical

Rhymes with SUNKEN

drunken, pumpkin