Meaning & use
baked in the sun
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
made very dry and hard by long, strong sunshine.
Grammar: Used after verbs like be, get, or look, or before a noun: baked-in-the-sun earth.
Patterns
- be baked in the sun
- get baked in the sun
- baked in the sun for hours
The clay ground was baked in the sun and cracked into deep lines.
After weeks without rain, the fields looked baked in the sun.
Leave the bricks baked in the sun until they are completely dry.
phrasefixed phraseinformal
(of a person or animal) made very hot by being in strong sunshine for too long.
Grammar: Often used in the passive with be or get, and usually suggests discomfort.
Patterns
- be baked in the sun
- feel baked in the sun
We were baked in the sun after walking all afternoon with no shade.
The dog lay baked in the sun by the wall and would not move.
By noon the workers were baked in the sun and needed a break.
Common combinations
- baked in the sun all day
- The old roof tiles were baked in the sun all day.
- baked in the hot sun
- The path was baked in the hot sun and felt like stone.
- baked in the sun until hard
- The mud was baked in the sun until it was hard enough to walk on.
- left baked in the sun
- The fruit was left baked in the sun and lost all its juice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sunbaked
- A single adjective with the same idea; it is more compact and often comes before a noun, as in sunbaked earth.
- parched
- Focuses on being extremely dry, especially from lack of water, not necessarily from direct sunshine.
- scorched
- Suggests burning or singeing by intense heat, which is stronger and more damaging than simply being dried by the sun.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: baked in the sun or baking in the sun? baked in the sun or sunburned?
baked in the sun vs baking in the sun
This describes the process happening now or continuously, while baked in the sun describes the finished state.
baked in the sun vs sunburned
Sunburned means your skin is red and sore from the sun; baked in the sun means something has become very dry and hot.
Practice
After a month with no rain, the earth was ___ and hard.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a descriptive phrase after was, so the past participle phrase baked in the sun fits. Baking in the sun would suggest the earth is still in the process of baking, and bake/bakes are active verb forms that cannot follow was here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “baked in the sun”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.