sunken

[suhng-kuhn]

adjective

1. having sunk or been sunk beneath the surface; submerged.

2. having settled to a lower level, as walls.

3. situated or lying on a lower level.

   a sunken living room.

4. hollow; depressed.

   sunken cheeks.

verb

1. Obsolete.,  a past participle of sink.

sunken

/ ˈsʌŋkən /

verb

1. a past participle of sink

adjective

1. unhealthily hollow

   sunken cheeks

2. situated at a lower level than the surrounding or usual one

3. situated under water; submerged

4. depressed; low

   sunken spirits

Other Word Forms

• half-sunken adjective
• unsunken adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sunken¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, past participle of sinken to sink

Example Sentences

"We then discovered it was a plane crash and saw the sunken hole the crash had created in the ground," she said.

From BBC

Children gaze with sunken eyes and swollen bellies, their cries of hunger echoing into a silence broken only by the roar of bombs.

From Salon

A fusion of body horror and couples therapy, it centers on a sunken cave with a pool of water that, when sipped, makes cells thirst to meld with the nearest mammal.

From Los Angeles Times

Paramedics who came to the house describe Ethan as being emaciated with a sunken chest and found he was bruised and bleeding.

From BBC

Somewhere in a sunken kitchen, copper pans still hang above the range.

From Salon