sunspot

noun

sun·​spot ˈsən-ˌspät 

: any of the dark spots that appear at times on the sun's surface and are usually visible only through a telescope

Examples of sunspot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This period includes the Maunder Minimum from 1645 to 1715 when there were no sunspots and the world was in a deep freeze (paintings of people skating on the River Thames, etc). —Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Considered our solar system's largest explosive events, solar flares occur when magnetic energy associated with sunspots is released into space, creating intense bursts of radiation. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 19 June 2025

All three eruptions came from sunspot region AR 4168, which rapidly developed a more complex magnetic structure over the weekend. —Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2025

The solar flare, categorized as X-class in scale—the highest scale, was triggered by an active region of a sunspot on June 19 at 11:50 p.m. UTC. —Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sunspot

• allot
• barat
• begot
• besought
• bethought
• bloodshot
• boycott
• buckshot
• crackpot
• croat
• culottes
• dashpot

Kids Definition

sunspot

noun

sun·​spot -ˌspät 

: one of the dark spots that appear from time to time on the sun's surface and are usually visible only through a telescope