sunken

adjective

sunk·​en ˈsəŋ-kən 

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

Synonyms of sunken

• concave
• hollow
• depressed

Examples of sunken in a Sentence

Her eyes were sunken and lifeless.

our convalescing guest's sunken cheeks soon filled out on a diet of my mother's cooking

Recent Examples on the Web

Everyone around me is complaining about their sunken eyes. —Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 7 Apr. 2026

The park has a full-size soccer field, a sunken basketball court that doubles as a reservoir, a long wooden walkway raised above plantings and tall grasses, a community pavilion, a café, and a fifty-thousand-gallon cistern that captures rain for irrigation. —Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026

For more than half a century, the story of a giant squid attack on the survivors of a sunken troop ship during World War II has made the rounds. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 3 Apr. 2026

In February 2017 separate studies examining Earth’s geological and geophysical characteristics revealed evidence of ancient sunken continents in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sonkyn, past participle of sinken to sink

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sunken

• drunken
• shrunken

Kids Definition

sunken

adjective

sunk·​en ˈsəŋ-kən 

1

: being submerged

especially : lying at the bottom of a body of water

sunken ships

2

: fallen in : hollow

sunken cheeks

3

a

: lying in a depression

a sunken garden

b

: constructed below the normal floor level

a sunken living room