glacial

From French glacial, from Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs (“ice”). The sense "slow" refers to the speed of actual glaciers, typically around 1 meter per day.^[1]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡleɪ.sɪəl/, /ˈɡleɪ.ʃ(ɪ)əl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃəl

glacial (comparative more glacial, superlative most glacial)

1. Of, or relating to glaciers.

   We examined the glacial deposits.

   Wang Shijin is a glacier expert and director of the Yulong Snow Mountain Glacial and Environmental Observation Research Station.

2. (figuratively) Very slow.
   • 1917, Everybody's Magazine - Volume 37, Issue 2, Ridgeway Company, page 56:

     He could remember a day that he had spent the whole of (he couldn't have been more than ten) running one of the great, creaking freight elevators at a glacial speed, answering the calls of the bell—one ring, five rings, three rings—with an almost unbearable sense of responsibility.

   • 1953, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services, Defense Department Authorization and Oversight, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 1251:

     I understand that you commented that the Japanese are moving at glacial speed. This is not the only area where they are moving at glacial speed. They are moving at glacial speed in terms of trade barriers, and it is one thing that the American people recognize.

   • 1999, Michael Goodchild, Max J. Egenhofer, Robin Fegeas, Cliff Kottman, Interoperating Geographic Information Systems, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 133:

     Paradoxically, then, the electronic speed offered by computer-based decision-making is often overwhelmed by the glacial speed of data reformatting and checking.

   • 2006, Aline Brosh McKenna, Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada, spoken by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep):

     By all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.

   • 2010 October 16, “Under the volcano”, in The Economist:

     Progress on judicial reform has been glacial, meeting enormous resistance.

   • 2014, John P. Kotter, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World, Harvard Business Review Press, →ISBN, page 96:

     Lower-level people added front-line information that ordinarily wouldn't have made it up the hierarchy to the executive committee (or would have made it at glacial speed).

   • 2014, Stuart E. Eizenstat, The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 105:

     The Gulf States and Saudi Arabia are modernizing but at a glacial speed in a world moving at digital speed.

3. Cold and icy.

   After the rain and frost, the pavements were glacial.

4. Having the appearance of ice.

   On cold days, glacial acetic acid will freeze in the bottle.

5. (figuratively) Cool and unfriendly.

   He gave me a glacial stare.

glacial (plural glacials)

1. A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).

   Synonym: ice age

   Coordinate term: interglacial

• gallica

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ɡlə.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ɡla.siˈal]

glacial m or f (masculine and feminine plural glacials)

1. glacial

• “glacial”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “glacial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “glacial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “glacial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

glacial

1. glacial

• “glacial” in Den Danske Ordbog

Learned borrowing from Latin glaciālis. Morphologically, from glace +‎ -ial.

• IPA^(key): /ɡla.sjal/
• Homophones: glaciale, glaciales

glacial (feminine glaciale, masculine plural glaciaux, feminine plural glaciales)

1. freezing, ice-cold, very cold
2. (figuratively) icy, very cold

• glaçant
• glaciaire

• “glacial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: gla‧cial

glacial m or f (plural glaciais)

1. frozen, at the temperature of ice

   Synonym: xeado

2. glacial, pertaining to glaciers
3. (figuratively) frigid, chilly, not cordial

   Synonym: xélido

• glaciación

• “glacial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

From Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs (“ice”).

glacial m

1. (Jersey) icy

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

glacial m (feminine singular glaciala, masculine plural glacials, feminine plural glacialas)

1. glacial

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 350.

• Hyphenation: gla‧ci‧al

glacial m or f (plural glaciais)

1. glacial (cold and icy)

   Synonym: gélido

2. glacial (relating to glaciers)
3. (relational) ice age
4. (figurative) glacial; cold (emotionally distant)

   Synonyms: frio, gélido

• “glacial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Borrowed from French glacial, from Latin glacialis.

• IPA^(key): /ɡla.t͡ʃiˈal/

glacial m or n (feminine singular glacială, masculine plural glaciali, feminine and neuter plural glaciale)

1. glacial

• “glacial”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

• IPA^(key): /ɡlaˈθjal/ [ɡlaˈθjal] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ɡlaˈsjal/ [ɡlaˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: gla‧cial

glacial m or f (masculine and feminine plural glaciales)

1. glacial
2. (figuratively) frigid, chilly, not cordial

• “glacial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024