Did you know?
Alright stop, collaborate and listen: the history of gelid is all about ice, ice, baby. Gelid entered English late in the 16th century from the Latin adjective gelidus, which ultimately comes from the noun gelu, meaning “frost” or “cold.” (The noun gelatin, which can refer to an edible jelly that undergoes a cooling process as part of its formation, comes from the related Latin word, gelare, meaning “to freeze.”) Gelid is used to describe anything of extremely cold temperature (as in “the gelid waters of the Arctic Ocean”), but the word can also be used figuratively to describe a person with a cold demeanor (as in “the prizefighter’s gelid stare”).
Examples of gelid in a Sentence
David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Jan. 2025
Moss brought an uncanny, even creepy quality to the character which added to the show’s gelid mystique.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2022
Instead, most of its plasma comes from icy volcanism on Enceladus, a gelid moon that erupts water-ice slush from deep crevasses around its south pole.
—Robin Andrews, Wired, 22 Feb. 2022
Settings range globally without fanfare, as do Krauss’s gelid portraits of modern arrangements.
—Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2020
Admittedly, former commercials director Niccol is terrific at composing looks; however, an assemblage of glossy, gelid sequences does not necessarily add up to a satisfying cohesive film.
—Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Oct. 2019
Ungainly in looks, but a natural for work — each hoof a snowshoe, with hollow fur for warmth and to buoy them across gelid Arctic rivers.
—Christopher Solomon, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2019
But other ailments that are either directly or tangentially related to the gelid weather have multiplied.
—John Benson, cleveland.com, 4 Jan. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Gelid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gelid. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share