gelid
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gelid
1600–10; < Latin gelidus icy cold, equivalent to gel ( um ) frost, cold + -idus -id 4
Explanation
Gelid things are bitterly cold. When you wake up shivering on a winter morning, you may want to announce that you're not getting out of bed on such a gelid day. Use this adjective to describe frozen things — like a gelid skating pond, your gelid fingers when you forget to wear your gloves, or the gelid breeze coming in through the gap under your front door. Gelid is also useful for figuratively icy things, like your teacher's gelid smile when you ask him if the class can take the day off. Gelid comes from the Latin gelidus, "icy, cold, or frosty," from gelum, "frost or intense cold."
Vocabulary lists containing gelid
Wintry Words
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Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "G" and "H"
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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.
But the Kuiper Belt, a torus-shaped ring of gelid objects, including the dwarf planet Pluto, will have its portrait taken by VRO in considerable detail.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 9, 2024
It was a sunny, gelid afternoon just after Christmas.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 19, 2017
The talks will draw together diplomats from a dozen countries that have striking differences on potential solutions for the Syrian war — and whose relations with Iran range from warm to outright gelid.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2015
The burst of heat could bring joy to even the most grizzled of hard-core skiers by taking the edge off a gelid day.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2011
He pulled the wick out of the bottle and poured the bottle about half full, old straight weight oil thick and gelid with the cold and a long time pouring.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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.
