Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for "frosting"
  • present participle of frost.
Synonyms

frosting

American  
[fraw-sting, fros-ting] / ˈfrɔ stɪŋ, ˈfrɒs tɪŋ /

noun

  • frostings
    plural
  1. a sweet mixture, cooked or uncooked, for coating or filling cakes, cookies, and the like; icing.

  2. a dull or lusterless finish, as on metal or glass.

  3. a process of highlighting the hair by bleaching selected strands.

  4. a material used for decorative work, as signs, displays, etc., made from coarse flakes of powdered glass.


idioms

  1. the frosting on the cake, something added to make a thing better or more desirable. Also icing on the cake.

frosting British  
/ ˈfrɒstɪŋ /

noun

  1. a soft icing based on sugar and egg whites

  2. Also called: icing.  a sugar preparation, variously flavoured and coloured, for coating and decorating cakes, biscuits, etc

  3. a rough or matt finish on glass, silver, etc

  4. slang the practice of stealing a car while the owner has left it idling to defrost the windows and heat the engine

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of frosting

First recorded in 1610–20; frost + -ing 1

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.

See Examples For:

Beyond serving customers at the counter, I also worked in the back, finishing donuts through tasks like jelly filling, frosting and powdering.

From The Wall Street Journal May 7, 2026

Everything else is just frosting on the cake.

From MarketWatch Jan. 30, 2026

She punctuates the quip by taking a big bite, leaving a glob of frosting on her face.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 11, 2026

It’s when we enjoy slices of birthday cake to our hearts’ content, savoring every single crumb and licking our plates clean of any frosting.

From Salon Jan. 10, 2026

The frosting wasn’t as easy to work with as jungle mud.

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate

Back in 2022, Parton launched her own cake mixes and frostings via a multiyear partnership with Duncan Hines’ parent company, Conagra Brands.

From Salon Oct. 8, 2024

She offers 50 cakes — sheet cakes, stacked cakes, rolled cakes, even ice cream cakes — and many fillings, soaks and frostings to make them your own.

From New York Times Dec. 14, 2021

Baking often necessitates frostings, caramels, and creams, which can be finicky if they’re not kept at a steady temperature.

From Slate May 5, 2020

The bold frostings on the fried cakes owe their colors to the fruits and purées that flavor them; no artificial dyes or preservatives are used here.

From Washington Post Mar. 27, 2018

The six tiers of fabric are like different frostings of tulle and lace and silk.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training