hoarfrost

[ hawr-frawst, -frost, hohr- ]

noun

1. frost ( def 2 ).

hoarfrost

/ ˈhɔːˌfrɒst /

noun

1. a deposit of needle-like ice crystals formed on the ground by direct condensation at temperatures below freezing point Also calledwhite frost

hoarfrost

/ hôr′frôst′ /

1. Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoarfrost¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, hoarfrost is from the Middle English word hor-frost. See hoar, frost

Example Sentences

Exhalations seem to suspend in the rarified air, and on sunny days, the atmosphere shimmers with a million microscopic flashes, a hoarfrost with nothing to cling to but exposed skin and hair.

From Salon

Today, it’s hard not to be smitten by the beauty of this place, the snow, the hoarfrost coating every limb on the willows that line the field, the stillness of land at rest.

From Washington Post

The 1959 watercolor shows the moon just edging above the horizon with the sky so cold that the stars seem to have frozen to the firmament like hoarfrost on a window.

From Washington Post

Stars illuminate the darkness as a thin coat of hoarfrost begins to form on the grass outside my window.

From The Guardian

I wonder if it’s hoarfrost on the ground.

From The New Yorker