different between icy vs wintry

English

Alternative forms

• icey (rare)
• ycie (obsolete)

Etymology

ice +? -y; cf. Old English ?si?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?si/

Adjective

icy (comparative icier, superlative iciest)

1. Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in ice; cold; frosty.
2. Covered with ice, wholly or partially.
3. Characterized by coldness of manner; frigid; cold.
   • 2009, Sharon Kendrick, The Desert Princes Bundle: The Sheikh's English Bride

     Gone was the gleam of desire, and the teasingly provocative remarks, and Alexa realised the truth in the saying that indifference was death. His demeanour was haughty and icy towards her.

4. (US, slang) To be wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, especially of the high-quality and expensive kind.

Related terms

• icily
• iciness

Translations

References

• icy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• icy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• CyI

Middle French

Adverb

icy

1. here

Descendants

• French: ici

English

Alternative forms

• wintery

Etymology

From Old English wintrig. Also constructed from winter +? -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?nt(?)??/
• (General American) enPR: w?n?t(?-)r?, IPA^(key): /?w?nt(?)?i/, [?w???(?)?i]
• Rhymes: -?nt?i
• Hyphenation: win?try

Adjective

wintry (comparative wintrier, superlative wintriest)

1. Suggestive or characteristic of winter; cold, stormy.

   wintry weather

2. Of precipitation, containing sleet or snow.

   It will be cloudy overnight, with outbreaks of heavy rain at times. The rain may turn wintry over higher ground.

3. Aged, white-haired.
4. Chilling, cheerless.
   • 1934, Frank Richards, The Magnet, The Bounder's Folly

     He reached the old ruins at last, dim masses of moss-grown masonry in the glimmer of the wintry starlight.

   a wintry remark

Synonyms

• (suggestive or characteristic of winter): brumal, hibernal, hiemal

Derived terms

Translations

References

• wintry at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967