sunrise

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   The time in the morning when the sun first appears above the horizon.

   Grammar: Can be countable (a beautiful sunrise) or uncountable (at sunrise).

   Patterns

   • at sunrise
   • before sunrise
   • watch the sunrise
   • a sunrise

   We left the hotel at sunrise to avoid the traffic.

   The farmers begin work before sunrise.

   They sat on the beach and watched the sunrise together.

2. 2nouncountable

   The colorful appearance of the sky when the sun comes up in the morning.

   Grammar: Countable: a beautiful sunrise, the sunrises we saw. Often used with adjectives like beautiful, pink, or golden.

   Patterns

   • a beautiful sunrise
   • a pink sunrise
   • the sunrise over something

   The sunrise over the mountains was pink and gold.

   She took a photo of the sunrise from her window.

   We saw a stunning sunrise on our last morning in the desert.

Word forms

Common combinations

at sunrise

The ceremony begins at sunrise.

before sunrise

He goes running before sunrise every day.

watch the sunrise

We climbed the hill to watch the sunrise.

sunrise to sunset

They worked from sunrise to sunset.

a beautiful sunrise

The window faces east, so we get a beautiful sunrise.

Synonyms and how they differ

dawn

Refers to the first light before the sun appears; sunrise is the exact moment the sun comes up.

daybreak

Literary or slightly old-fashioned; means the time when daylight begins.

sunup

Mainly American and informal; means the same as sunrise.

Opposites

Word family

sun noun

The star that gives light and heat to the earth.

sunset noun

The time in the evening when the sun goes down.

sunlit adjective

Lit by the sun.

Commonly confused: sunrise or sunset?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sunrise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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