hoarfrost

American  

[hawr-frawst, -frost, hohr-] / ˈhɔrˌfrɔst, -ˌfrɒst, ˈhoʊr- /

noun

1. frost.

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hoarfrost British  

/ ˈhɔːˌfrɒst /

noun

1. Also called: white frost.  a deposit of needle-like ice crystals formed on the ground by direct condensation at temperatures below freezing point

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hoarfrost Scientific  

/ hôr′frôst′ /

1. Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface.

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Etymology

Origin of hoarfrost

First recorded in 1250–1300, hoarfrost is from the Middle English word hor-frost. See hoar, frost

Example Sentences

Exhalations seem to suspend in the rarified air, and on sunny days, the atmosphere shimmers with a million microscopic flashes, a hoarfrost with nothing to cling to but exposed skin and hair.

From Salon • May 29, 2023

The 1959 watercolor shows the moon just edging above the horizon with the sky so cold that the stars seem to have frozen to the firmament like hoarfrost on a window.

From Washington Post • Jan. 1, 2020

Stars illuminate the darkness as a thin coat of hoarfrost begins to form on the grass outside my window.

From The Guardian • Feb. 8, 2019

Because if you two look at your reflection in a mirror, what you’ll see is a commitment in progress  —  a bond forming like hoarfrost that is variously permanent.

From The Verge • Oct. 27, 2018

The paths were treacherous with black ice, and hoarfrost sparkled in the moonlight on the broken panes of the Glass Gardens.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin