glacial

adjective

gla·​cial ˈglā-shəl How to pronounce glacial (audio)
1
: suggestive of ice: such as
a
: extremely cold : frigid
a glacial wind
b
: devoid of warmth and cordiality
a glacial handshake
c
: coldly imperturbable
maintained a glacial calm
2
: of a purity marked by the tendency to readily solidify in the form of ice-like crystals
glacial acetic acid
3
a(1)
: of, relating to, or being any of those parts of geologic time from Precambrian onward when a much larger portion of the earth was covered by glaciers than at present
(2)
capitalized : pleistocene
b
: of, relating to, or produced by glaciers
c
: suggestive of the very slow movement of glaciers
progress on the bill has been glacial
glacially adverb

Examples of glacial in a Sentence

Progress on the bill has been glacial. a glacial weather front coming down from Canada will bring freezing temperatures this weekend
Recent Examples on the Web Evan ran her first marathon at a glacial 3:50 pace — glacial for 12-year-old Evan, that is. Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024 On Saturday, Madison Saltsburg, 20, fell roughly 600 feet down the Tuckerman Ravine, a glacial cirque on the southeast face of Mount Washington, according to a news release from the U.S. Forest Service. USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2024 None of these are cinematic sins per se, but since the central players and plot develop at a glacial pace, the stylistic choices are little more than white noise humming through (and adding to) the slog. Allaire Nuss, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024 Most disastrous of all, the impact shattered the ice dam holding back Lake Agassiz, a vast expanse of glacial meltwater that stretched across Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Zach St. George, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 To apply for a work visa in the United States is to set out on a biblical odyssey through a glacial, bureaucratic process renowned for its voracious appetite for complex and expensive paperwork. Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024 Modest numbers of atoms separated by mountains of light spread out at a glacial pace, both when arranged in 1D lines and when arrayed in 2D grids. Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024 The event would not have happened if not for climate change and glacial retreat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Denise Chow, NBC News, 25 Feb. 2024 What’s clear is that the skeleton crew at X is working hard to crank out cool features (as anyone who remembers the glacial pace of innovation at the old Twitter will attest), and sometimes they get kneecapped by Musk in a bad mood. Kylie Robison, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'glacial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin glacialis, from glacies

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of glacial was in 1656

Dictionary Entries Near glacial

Cite this Entry

“Glacial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glacial. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

glacial

adjective
gla·​cial ˈglā-shəl How to pronounce glacial (audio)
1
a
: extremely cold : frigid
b
: lacking warmth of feeling
2
a
: of, relating to, or produced by glaciers
b
: of, relating to, or being any of those parts of geologic time when a large portion of the earth was covered by glaciers
c
capitalized : pleistocene

More from Merriam-Webster on glacial

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