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View synonyms for glacial

glacial

[ gley-shuhl ]

adjective

  1. of or relating to glaciers or ice sheets.
  2. resulting from or associated with the action of ice or glaciers:

    glacial terrain.

  3. characterized by the presence of ice in extensive masses or glaciers.
  4. bitterly cold; icy:

    a glacial winter wind.

    Synonyms: wintry, frigid, freezing, chill

  5. happening or moving extremely slowly:

    The work proceeded at a glacial pace.

  6. icily unsympathetic or immovable:

    a glacial stare; glacial indifference.

    Synonyms: hostile, unfriendly, forbidding

  7. Chemistry. of, relating to, or tending to develop into icelike crystals:

    glacial phosphoric acid.



glacial

/ ˈɡleɪsɪəl; -ʃəl /

adjective

  1. characterized by the presence of masses of ice
  2. relating to, caused by, or deposited by a glacier
  3. extremely cold; icy
  4. cold or hostile in manner

    a glacial look

  5. (of a chemical compound) of or tending to form crystals that resemble ice

    glacial acetic acid

  6. very slow in progress

    a glacial pace



glacial

/ glāshəl /

  1. Relating to or derived from a glacier.
  2. Characterized or dominated by the existence of glaciers, as the Pleistocene Epoch.


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Derived Forms

  • ˈglacially, adverb

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Other Words From

  • glacial·ly adverb
  • non·glacial adjective
  • non·glacial·ly adverb
  • un·glacial adjective
  • un·glacial·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of glacial1

1650–60; < Latin glaciālis icy, equivalent to glaci ( ēs ) ice + -ālis -al 1

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Example Sentences

Many thousands of years ago, glacial floods swept through the area and carved out the sloping sides of the current grounds.

“Americans will never drive a small car,” said the man from GM with glacial confidence.

Folks are taking cold showers already, and the weather soon will be glacial.

My partner Brandon and I awake at the crack of dawn for a canoe ride on the milky blue glacial waters of Lake Louise.

For a church that moves at a glacial pace, the murmurings of Bishops like Tobin are lightning fast and boldly subversive.

Science teaches that man existed during the glacial epoch, which was at least fifty thousand years before the Christian era.

But scorn is far more volcanic than glacial and a poor barrier between sex and judgment.

Let dry, apply a cover-glass, and run glacial acetic acid underneath it.

Still water runs deep, they say; and a glacial cap may conceal subterranean fires.

Further study will reveal the fact that the difference is due to the lack of oxidation in the case of the glacial detritus.

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Glace Bayglacial acetic acid