ICY (icier, iciest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: icier    , iciest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does icy mean? 

• ICY (adjective)
  The adjective ICY has 4 senses:

1. devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain

2. extremely cold

3. covered with or containing or consisting of ice

4. shiny and slick as with a thin coating of ice

  Familiarity information: ICY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ICY (adjective)

Comparative: icier   
Superlative: iciest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain

Synonyms:

frigid; frosty; frozen; glacial; icy; wintry

Context example:

wintry smile

Similar:

cold (extended meanings; especially of psychological coldness; without human warmth or emotion)

Derivation:

iciness (a lack of affection or enthusiasm)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extremely cold

Synonyms:

arctic; frigid; gelid; glacial; icy; polar

Context example:

polar weather

Similar:

cold (having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Covered with or containing or consisting of ice

Context example:

icy northern waters

Similar:

frozen (turned into ice; affected by freezing or by long and severe cold)

Derivation:

ice (a rink with a floor of ice for ice hockey or ice skating)

iciness (coldness due to a cold environment)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Shiny and slick as with a thin coating of ice

Context example:

roads and trees glazed with an icy film

Similar:

glazed; shiny (having a shiny surface or coating)

Derivation:

iciness (coldness due to a cold environment)

 Context examples 

During Cassini's orbits of Saturn, instruments examined the icy, rocky rings in unprecedented detail.

(Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn, NASA)

Models suggest these planets formed outside of the star's "snow line," the region of possible orbits where icy materials can survive.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

Six known objects in the distant Kuiper Belt, a region of icy bodies stretching from Neptune outward toward interstellar space, all have elliptical orbits pointing in the same direction.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

By contrast, the planet is icy and large—at least twice as large as the star.

(First Giant Planet around White Dwarf Found, ESO)

Many billions of years ago, Neptune captured the large moon Triton from the Kuiper Belt, a large region of icy and rocky objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.

(Tiny Neptune Moon Spotted by Hubble May Have Broken from Larger Moon, NASA)

I put him back, conscious at his touch of a certain icy pang along my blood.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A new study reports that the south polar region of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is warmer than expected just a few feet below its icy surface.

(Cassini Sees Heat Below the Icy Surface of Enceladus, NASA)

Often he took to the rim-ice that was beginning to form, and more than once he crashed through and struggled for life in the icy current.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Since the icy shell is geologically young and features abundant evidence of past geologic activity, it was suspected that whatever salts exist on the surface may derive from the ocean below.

(Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa, NASA)

The thick black or liver-colored coat of tight curls protects the dog from brambles and icy water.

(Curly-Coated Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)