glacial

/ˈgleɪʃəl/

/ˈgleɪʃəl/

Things that are glacial are super cold. A place can be glacial — like the South Pole — but a person can be glacial, too, like that unfriendly girl who gave you a glacial stare.

The word glacial is related to the word glacier, which is a huge piece of ice. If something or someone is glacial, that thing or person is icy. You can give someone you don’t like a glacial look, or you can go skiing on a glacial morning. Glacial comes from the Latin glacies, which sounds like the name of a frozen dessert, but which actually just means "ice."

Definitions of glacial

1. adjective

   relating to or derived from a glacier
   “glacial deposit”
2. adjective

   extremely cold
   “glacial winds”

   synonyms: arctic, freezing, frigid, gelid, icy, polar

   cold

   having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
3. adjective

   devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain
   “a glacial handshake”

   synonyms: frigid, frosty, frozen, icy, wintry

   cold

   extended meanings; especially of psychological coldness; without human warmth or emotion
4. adjective

   very slow, like the movement of a glacier