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Synonyms

snowy

American  
[snoh-ee] / ˈsnoʊ i /

adjective

  • snowier,
    comparative
  • snowiest
    superlative
  1. abounding in or covered with snow.

    snowy fields.

  2. characterized by snow, as the weather.

    a snowy day.

  3. pertaining to, consisting of, or resembling snow.

  4. of the color of snow; snow-white.

    snowy skin.

  5. immaculate; unsullied.


snowy British  
/ ˈsnəʊɪ /

adjective

  1. covered with or abounding in snow

    snowy hills

  2. characterized by snow

    snowy weather

  3. resembling snow in whiteness, purity, etc

"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

Adjectives


Etymology

Origin of snowy

before 1000; Middle English snawy, Old English snāwig. See snow, -y 1


Explanation

Snowy things are covered with snow or resemble snow—like snowy rooftops in the winter or your grandpa's snowy beard that makes him look like Santa Claus. You can use snowy to describe the hills and fields in Vermont during your January visit, and also when you talk about the weather: "Next week looks snowy, but it's going to warm up after that." Things that are the brilliant white color of fresh snow are also snowy, like a swan's snowy feathers or your neighbor's snowy wall-to-wall carpet that you're not allowed to walk on.

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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.

See Examples For:

While it is unlikely the UK will see any snowfall this autumn, it is still too early to say if the winter will be especially cold or snowy.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

A coming-of-age trilogy that traverses icy seas and snowy mountains concludes among the everyday struggles of an Icelandic village.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Video of the confrontation appears to show Nelson idling in a snowy strip mall parking lot in his gray Dodge Ram when another driver in an even larger pickup pulls in beside him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

In May, Waymo launched a cheaper robotaxi dubbed the Ojai, which is better equipped for difficult driving conditions such as snowy roads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

The snowy owl went back to her studies, and Duane took his leave as quietly as possible so as to disturb her no further.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

If we take the average of number of days where snow falls in a month, March is actually snowier than December.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

In snowier news, Mamdani faces a flurry of criticism from police over a snowball fight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Key findings from the study include that deer density was significantly lower in areas with colder, snowier winters.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024

Not every species will be able to adapt or move to snowier climates, “so we’ll see the extinction of some animals,” says Bentley.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 17, 2024

From Syracuse they went north again, into a colder, snowier city—Rochester.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

It’s a private school in one of the snowiest cities in the country at a moment when students are gravitating toward public institutions in the Sunbelt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

In terms of falling snow, the snowiest Easter on record in the UK was in 1983 when Easter fell between 1-4 April.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

A perk of living in Syracuse — despite its reputation for hard winters and as one of the snowiest places in America — is its relative stability when it comes to other weather elements.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2025

“Did anyone have the snowiest day of the 2023/2024 season being in May on their winter bingo card?” station officials wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2024

“They’re saying that this is going to be the snowiest winter we’ve had in decades,” I say.

From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan

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