Glacial means relating to or produced by glaciers or ice.
[technical]
...a true glacial landscape with U-shaped valleys.
...rising sea levels at the end of the last glacial period.
2. adjective
If you say that a person, action, or atmosphere is glacial, you mean that they are very unfriendly or hostile.
[disapproval]
The Duchess's glare was glacial.
Inside the jeep the atmosphere was glacial.
3. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
If you say that something moves or changes at a glacial pace, you are emphasizing that it moves or changes very slowly.
[emphasis]
Change occurs at a glacial pace.
4. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
If you describe someone, usually a woman, as glacial, you mean they are very beautiful and elegant, but do not show their feelings.
Her glacial beauty is magnetic.
More Synonyms of glacial
glacial in British English
(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
Derived forms
glacially (ˈglacially)
adverb
glacial in American English
(ˈgleɪʃəl; Chiefly British ˈgleɪsiəl)
adjective
1.
of or like ice or glaciers
2.
of or produced by a glacier or a glacial epoch or period
3.
freezing; frigid
glacial weather
4.
cold and unfriendly
a glacial stare
5.
as slow as the movement of a glacier
glacial progress
6. Chemistry
having an icelike, crystalline appearance
Derived forms
glacially (ˈglacially)
adverb
Word origin
L glacialis, icy, frozen < glacies, ice < IE *glag-, partial redupl. of base *gel-, to freeze > cold
Examples of 'glacial' in a sentence
glacial
This glacial progress towards fairness cannot be allowed to go on.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Policy unfolds at a more glacial pace than politics.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Everything is moving at glacial pace and is incredibly small.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
And the world governing body moves at a glacial pace.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This was the time of the last glacial maximum.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Where glossy magazines move at a glacial pace, the website was fast and nimble.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Treatments improve at a glacial pace, if at all.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
This glacial pace does not bode well for future disputes and only those with the very deepest pockets will consider it an option.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The fact is that things move at a glacial pace in men's fashion.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Life moved in Moscow at a glacial pace.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Previous declines into glacial periods took place relatively slowly, over roughly thousands of years.
Fisher, David E. Fire and Ice - the Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Depletion, and Nuclear Winter (1990)
Stunning glacial lakes dotted the valley landscape, pretty alpine rivers flowing between the steep valley walls.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He has already splashed joyously around glacial lakes in Norway.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
At my feet was a glacial lake, rain pinching its surface.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
And to preserve its stunning glacial landscapes for future generations, ship traffic is limited to the summer months.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
There's a sense of slide and decay in the pictures of crumbling volcanic cliffs and dirty glacial ice.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
But the pace is glacial.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
I was strapped in and we were going across an ice-cold glacial lake.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Temperatures were gradually cooling over the period, but the Neanderthals had survived many glacial periods before.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
But science moves at a glacial pace and no one is expecting a'cure' any time soon.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
If you think that a show about icebergs would go at a glacial pace, you'd be wrong.
The Sun (2012)
They will have to insist that Washington is wrong about the glacial pace of trade talks on the basis that Britain is a special case.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
glacial
British English: glacial ADJECTIVE
Glacial means relating to or produced by glaciers or ice.
...a true glacial landscape with U-shaped valleys.
American English: glacial
Brazilian Portuguese: glacial
Chinese: 冰河的
European Spanish: glacial
French: glaciaire
German: Gletscher-
Italian: glaciale
Japanese: 氷河の
Korean: 빙하의
European Portuguese: glacial
Latin American Spanish: glacial
All related terms of 'glacial'
glacial epoch
→ ice age
glacial pace
The pace of something is the speed at which it happens or is done.
glacial period
any period of time during which a large part of the earth's surface was covered with ice , due to the advance of glaciers , as in the late Carboniferous period, and during most of the Pleistocene ; glaciation
the Glacial Epoch
the Pleistocene Epoch
glacial acetic acid
pure acetic acid (more than 99.8 per cent )
glacialist
a student of glaciers and their action
1 (adjective)
Definition
extremely cold
The air from the sea felt glacial.
Synonyms
icy
An icy wind blew across the moor.
biting
a raw, biting northerly wind
cold
It was bitterly cold outside.
freezing
a freezing January afternoon
frozen
the frozen bleakness of the Far North
bitter
a night in the bitter cold
raw
a raw December morning
chill
A chill wind was blowing.
piercing
a piercing wind
arctic (informal)
The bathroom is positively arctic.
polar
the rigours of life in the polar regions
chilly
frosty
sharp, frosty nights
wintry
The wintry weather continues to sweep across the country.
gelid
2 (adjective)
Definition
cold and unfriendly
The Duchess gave him a glacial look and moved on.
Synonyms
unfriendly
She spoke in a loud, rather unfriendly voice.
hostile
The Governor faced hostile crowds when visiting the town.
cold
The president is likely to receive a cold reception when he speaks today.
icy
Her response was icy.
frosty
He may get a frosty reception.
antagonistic
Nearly all the women were antagonistic to the idea.
frigid
The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged.
inimical
a false morality that is inimical to human happiness
Additional synonyms
in the sense of antagonistic
Nearly all the women were antagonistic to the idea.