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

When the water reaches a certain level, it drains into the Mendenhall Lake in a glacial outburst flood.

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Where the end of the glacier once stood is now a large glacial lake.

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Entire cities have been lost, “the land beneath them compressed and lowered, so they did not drain, but persisted like glacial lakes.”

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Sanabria Lake, the largest glacial body of water in the Iberian peninsula, is a major local attraction, surrounded by a natural park.

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Its melting glaciers have also created new lakes at risk of glacial outbursts.

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Related Words

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