glacial
Americanadjective
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of or relating to glaciers or ice sheets.
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resulting from or associated with the action of ice or glaciers.
glacial terrain.
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characterized by the presence of ice in extensive masses or glaciers.
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bitterly cold; icy.
a glacial winter wind.
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happening or moving extremely slowly.
The work proceeded at a glacial pace.
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icily unsympathetic or immovable.
a glacial stare; glacial indifference.
- Synonyms:
- hostile, unfriendly, forbidding
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Chemistry. of, relating to, or tending to develop into icelike crystals.
glacial phosphoric acid.
adjective
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characterized by the presence of masses of ice
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relating to, caused by, or deposited by a glacier
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extremely cold; icy
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cold or hostile in manner
a glacial look
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(of a chemical compound) of or tending to form crystals that resemble ice
glacial acetic acid
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very slow in progress
a glacial pace
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Relating to or derived from a glacier.
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Characterized or dominated by the existence of glaciers, as the Pleistocene Epoch.
Other Word Forms
- glacially adverb
- nonglacial adjective
- nonglacially adverb
- unglacial adjective
- unglacially adverb
Etymology
Origin of glacial
1650–60; < Latin glaciālis icy, equivalent to glaci ( ēs ) ice + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
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."
Vocabulary lists containing glacial
Wintry Words
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Hatchet
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The political formation enjoyed a heyday for a number of years before sinking into a glacial decline, its currency dwindling in most places except for Bluesky, where it still thrives.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
The film is so committed to its rigors — the two-person cast, the glacial camera pivots, the moody lighting — that it teeters on the line of becoming monotonous.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
Their goal was to collect glacial meltwater at its source.
From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026
However, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the glacial pace of peace negotiations, saying he was "very sceptical" about the possibility of achieving "peace in the short term" in Ukraine.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
Joe wandered off to study the geology of the island, discovering glacial striations etched in the granite.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
