wintry

/ˈwɪntri/

/ˈwɪntri/

Other forms: wintriest; wintrier; wintrily

If it makes you think of winter, it's wintry. Use the adjective wintry to describe a cold, gray January day.

The adjective wintry is sometimes spelled wintery. Either way, it describes something that happens in the winter time, or that reminds you of winter in some way. A photograph of your uncle's snow-covered Christmas tree farm shows a wintry scene, and a blustery wind on a February morning will feel wintry. It can also describe a person who is emotionally cool or unfriendly: "Her greeting was wintry, and she refused to shake my hand."

Definitions of wintry

1. adjective

   characteristic of or occurring in winter
   “suffered severe wintry weather”

   “brown wintry grasses”

   synonyms: wintery

   brumal, hibernal, hiemal

   characteristic of or relating to winter

   winter-blooming, winter-flowering

   of plants that bloom during the winter

   antonyms:

   vernal

   of or characteristic of or occurring in spring

   summery

   belonging to or characteristic of or occurring in summer

   autumnal

   of or characteristic of or occurring in the fall

   early-blooming, early-flowering, late-spring-blooming, spring-blooming, spring-flowering

   of plants that bloom during the spring

   aestival, estival

   of or occurring in summer

   summer-blooming, summer-flowering

   of plants that bloom during the summer

   autumn-blooming, autumn-flowering, fall-blooming, fall-flowering, late-blooming, late-flowering

   of plants that bloom during the autumn

   late-ripening

   of plants that ripen in the fall
2. adjective

   devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain
   “wintry smile”

   synonyms: frigid, frosty, frozen, glacial, icy

   cold

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