sunglass
sunglass Lexical Profile
sunglass Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Eyewear with tinted or polarized lenses worn to protect the eyes from bright sunlight and glare (usually used in the plural or attributively in the singular).
"The optician helped her select a durable sunglass frame that could accommodate her prescription lenses."
A convex lens used for converging the rays of the sun to produce intense heat or ignite fire.
"During the science demonstration, the instructor used a small sunglass to focus sunlight onto a piece of dry paper until it smoldered."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to tinted eyewear, the singular form "sunglass" is almost exclusively used as an attributive modifier before another noun (e.g., "sunglass lenses" or "sunglass frames"), whereas the eyewear itself is referred to in the plural as "sunglasses." As a standalone singular count noun, it historically refers to a convex lens used for concentrating sunlight.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed as a compound of "sun" and "glass," the word originally emerged in the 17th century to denote a burning glass used to focus the sun's rays, before being applied in the plural during the 20th century to tinted spectacles.