frosty
UK /ˈfɹɒsti/ · US /ˈfɹɔsti/ adjective, proper noun
Forms frostier frostiest
- adjective Cold, chilly; icy. “The air was frosty; I could see my breath and walked quickly with my hands in my pockets.”
- adjective Having frost on it or in it. “The frosty pumpkin is the sign of the end of the growing season, soon the greenery will wither and harvest end for the year.”
- adjective (figuratively) Having an aloof or inhospitable manner. “After the divorce, she was civil but frosty to her ex.”
- proper noun A generic name for a snowman.
Synonyms
frigid wintry algid Arctic Baltic boreal brass monkeys brumal chill chilled chilly clay-cold cold cold as a mackerel cold as charity freezing frore frozen gelid glacial icy rimed rimy crisp nipping nippy snappy
Etymology
From Middle English frosty, forsty, from Old English forstiġ, fyrstiġ (“frosty”), from Proto-West Germanic *frostag, *frustīg, By surface analysis, frost + -y.
Cognate with West Frisian froastich (“frosty”), Dutch vorstig (“frosty”), German Low German fröstig (“frosty”), German frostig (“frosty”), Swedish frostig (“frosty”). Compare also Saterland Frisian froasterch (“frosty”), German Low German frösterg (“frosty”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Attended with, or producing, frost; having power to congeal water; cold; freezing; as, a frosty night.
- adjective Covered with frost; as, the grass is frosty.
Etymology [Cf. AS. fyrstig.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “frosty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details