sunflower
sun·flow·er/ˈsʌn.flaʊ.əɹ/noun
sunflower is spelled S-U-N-F-L-O-W-E-R: 9 letters and 3 syllables (sun·flow·er). It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sunflower means “Any plant of the genus Helianthus, so called probably from the form and color of its floral head, having the form of a large disk surrounded by…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sunflower is sunflowers.
How many letters and syllables are in sunflower?
| Letters | 9: S-U-N-F-L-O-W-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sun·flow·er |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sunflower?
Sunflower appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sunflower?
- UK /ˈsʌn.flaʊ.ə/
- US /ˈsʌn.flaʊ.əɹ/
Sunflower has 3 syllables, split sun·flow·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sunflower.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sunflower
- sunflowers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sunflower mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any plant of the genus Helianthus, so called probably from the form and color of its floral head, having the form of a large disk surrounded by yellow ray flowers.
- 2
The commonly cultivated species, Helianthus annuus, a native of America.
- 3
A bright yellow, like that of the flower petals.
- 4
informalAny flat, radially symmetric organic compound, such as coronene.
- 5
Synonym of worm-star.
- 6
UKAn Automatic Warning System (AWS) indicator in the driver's cab that is displayed after a driver has acknowledged an audible warning, which consists of a yellow circle enclosing a white circle, with black spokes overlaid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sunflower in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense flower:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tournesol |
| German | Sonnenblume |
| Portuguese | girassol, helianto, heliotrópio, tornassol |
| Spanish | girasol, tornasol, mirasol, maravilla |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sunflower come from?
From sun + flower. Compare English sunbloom.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).