glacial
/ˈɡleɪ.sɪəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.39 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Very slow.
adj
Having the appearance of ice.
adj
Cool and unfriendly.
noun
A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).
name
Of the Pleistocene period dominated by the presence of glaciers.
Example Sentences
- "We examined the glacial deposits."
- "Wang Shijin is a glacier expert and director of the Yulong Snow Mountain Glacial and Environmental Observation Research Station."
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
- "Paradoxically, then, the electronic speed offered by computer-based decision-making is often overwhelmed by the glacial speed of data reformatting and checking."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: glaciālis
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈɡleɪ.sɪəl/