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

1. Relating to or derived from a glacier.

2. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of glacial¹

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

Example Sentences

But Alice points out that if they continue at this glacial pace they’ll be dead before they can ever cast a vote.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As drone technology has advanced over nearly four years of war, territorial progress has become glacial and devastatingly costly.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The result can be catastrophic: meltwater turns into glacial lakes which can suddenly burst.

Read more on BBC

The Fed has twice slowed the pace of the balance-sheet runoff, most recently to a glacial pace of around $20 billion in securities every month this past April.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The mosquitoes were found in Kjós, a glacial valley to the South West of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• freezing 
• frigid 
• frosty 
• frozen 
• icy 
• polar