glacial en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈɡleɪ.ʃ(ɪ)əl/ (UK)
- /ˈɡleɪ.sɪəl/ (UK)
Etymology
Borrowed 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.
Meanings
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Of, or relating to glaciers.
Users can see how a glacier at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania retreated between December 1986 and 2020, as well as glacial melt in Sermersooq, Greenland, between December 2000 and 2020.
2022 April 22, Toyin Owoseje, “Google marks Earth Day with doodle showing stark impacts of the climate crisis”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 May 2022:Wang Shijin is a glacier expert and director of the Yulong Snow Mountain Glacial and Environmental Observation Research Station.
We examined the glacial deposits.
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(figuratively) Very slow.
Progress on judicial reform has been glacial, meeting enormous resistance.
2010 October 16, “Under the volcano”, in The Economist:Paradoxically, then, the electronic speed offered by computer-based decision-making is often overwhelmed by the glacial speed of data reformatting and checking.
1999, Michael Goodchild, Max J. Egenhofer, Robin Fegeas, Cliff Kottman, Interoperating Geographic Information Systems, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 133: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.
1917, Everybody's Magazine - Volume 37, Issue 2, Ridgeway Company, page 56:The Gulf States and Saudi Arabia are modernizing but at a glacial speed in a world moving at digital 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: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.
1953, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services, Defense Department Authorization and Oversight, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 1251:By all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.
2006, Aline Brosh McKenna, Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada, spoken by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep):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, John P. Kotter, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World, Harvard Business Review Press, →ISBN, page 96:
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Cold and icy.
After the rain and frost, the pavements were glacial.
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Having the appearance of ice.
On cold days, glacial acetic acid will freeze in the bottle.
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(figuratively) Cool and unfriendly.
He gave me a glacial stare.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more glacial | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most glacial | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
glacial lake · glacial lake outburst flood · glacial milk · glacial acid · glacial buzz saw · glacial maximum · mediglacial · glacial trough · glacial humour · intraglacial · polyglacial · nonglacial · glacial acetic acid · glacial till · glacial erratic · glaciality · neoglacial · equiglacial · glacialism · paraglacial · glacial polish · fluvioglacial · glacial period · superglacial · glacially · glacial drift · deglacial · glacial flour · pleniglacial · glacialist · glacialize
Hyponyms
proglacial · supraglacial · preglacial · subglacial · interglacial · periglacial · monoglacial · englacial · postglacial
Translations (32)
de glazial (relating to glaciers) · fi jäätävä (cold and icy) · fr glacial (cold and icy) · pl glacjalny (relating to glaciers) · da glacial (relating to glaciers) · ca glacial (relating to glaciers) · fi jääkylmä (cold and icy) · nb glasial (relating to glaciers) · de eiskalt (cold and icy) · io glaciala (cold and icy) · io glaciatra (cold and icy) · es glacial (cold and icy) · ca glacial (cold and icy) · pl lodowcowy (relating to glaciers) · fi hyinen (cold and icy) · nn glasial (relating to glaciers) · es glaciar (relating to glaciers) · gv rioee (relating to glaciers) · fi jäinen (cold and icy) · io glacia (cold and icy) · io glaciera (relating to glaciers) · de eisig (cold and icy) · ga oighreach (relating to glaciers) · bg леден (cold and icy) · bg ледников (relating to glaciers) · ru леднико́вый (relating to glaciers) · el παγετωνικός (relating to glaciers) · cs glaciální (relating to glaciers) · es gélido (cold and icy) · io glacierala (relating to glaciers) · uk льодовико́вий (relating to glaciers) · cs glaciální (cold and icy)