wintry
Americanadjective
adjective
-
(esp of weather) of or characteristic of winter
-
lacking cheer or warmth; bleak
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wintry
First recorded before 900; Old English wintrig (not recorded in Middle English ); see winter, -y 1
Explanation
If it makes you think of winter, it's wintry. Use the adjective wintry to describe a cold, gray January day. The adjective wintry is sometimes spelled wintery. Either way, it describes something that happens in the winter time, or that reminds you of winter in some way. A photograph of your uncle's snow-covered Christmas tree farm shows a wintry scene, and a blustery wind on a February morning will feel wintry. It can also describe a person who is emotionally cool or unfriendly: "Her greeting was wintry, and she refused to shake my hand."
Vocabulary lists containing wintry
Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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Neighborhood Odes
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Cold
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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.
He’s just taken a morning stroll in New York with his girlfriend, Dominican architect Ana Amelia Batlle Cabral, and is still defrosting from the wintry chill; he’ll be fully warmed up upon landing in California.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
The government has credited wintry weather with a recent lull in the disease.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
By Sunday, heavy rain will spread south and east across the UK followed by some wintry showers and sunny spells across Scotland, Northern Ireland and later in the day northern England and Wales.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
While there will be some sunshine there will also be showers - which could even turn wintry over hills in the north of the UK.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
The robot started slowly through that wintry world, but as she found her footing, the sounds of her crunching steps grew quick and steady.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
