frosty

See also: Frosty

English

Etymology

From Middle English frosty, forsty, from Old English forstiġ, fyrstiġ (“frosty”), from Proto-West Germanic *frostag, *frustīg, By surface analysis, frost +‎ -y.

Cognates:

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”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɒsti/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɔsti/, /ˈfɹɑs-/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɒsti

Adjective

frosty (comparative frostier, superlative frostiest)

Cold, chilly; icy.
Synonyms: frigid, wintry; see also Thesaurus:cold

The air was frosty; I could see my breath and walked quickly with my hands in my pockets.

I'd like a frosty milkshake.
- 2022 February 26, John Walton, “How the Ukraine conflict could redraw the world air map”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 February 2022:
  During the frostiest days of the Cold War, avoiding the Soviet Bloc meant flying north around Greenland to Alaska, refueling in Anchorage, and then around the Bering Straits to reach Japan.
Having frost on it or in it.
Synonyms: frostbound, frosted, rimed

The frosty pumpkin is the sign of the end of the growing season, soon the greenery will wither and harvest end for the year.

The frosty beverage gave him a brain freeze.
- 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
  In scented, frilly boutiques that she seemed to find by instinct, they exchanged her battered wardrobe for fur capes and Anna Karenina riding boots that slithered on the frosty cobble, and Pym's dismal school habit for a leather jacket and trousers without buttons for his braces.
(figuratively) Having an aloof or inhospitable manner.
Synonyms: cool, harsh, severe; see also Thesaurus:aloof, Thesaurus:stern

After the divorce, she was civil but frosty to her ex.
- 2010 November 28, Janet Maslin, “A New York Tale of Art, Money and Ambition”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:
  Chilly from the start, she grows ever frostier as the book proceeds, partly because Mr. Martin has difficulty translating her sexual abandon to anything beyond “sexual due process.”

Derived terms

Translations

cold, chilly

Azerbaijani: ayaz (az)
Bulgarian: мразовит (bg) (mrazovit)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 酷寒的 (zh) (kù hán de)
Czech: mrazivý (cs)
Dutch: vorstig (nl)
Finnish: jäätävä (fi), jääkylmä (fi)
French: froid (fr), gelé (fr), givré (fr), glacial (fr)
Galician: xeadento, xélido (gl)
German: frostig (de)
Greek:
Ancient: παχνώδης (pakhnṓdēs)
Ido: koldeta (io)
Italian: gelido (it), ghiacciato (it), gelato (it)
Middle English: frosty
Plautdietsch: frostich
Polish: mroźny (pl)
Portuguese: gélido (pt)
Russian: моро́зный (ru) (moróznyj)
Scottish Gaelic: reòta
Welsh: rhewllyd (cy)

having frost on it

Bulgarian: заскрежен (zaskrežen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 被霜覆盖的 (bèi shuāng fù gài de)
Finnish: huurteinen (fi)
French: givré (fr), gelé (fr)
Greek:
Ancient: παχνώδης (pakhnṓdēs)
Italian: coperto di ghiaccio
Latin: pruīnōsus
Maori: hauhunga
Plautdietsch: frostich
Polish: oszroniony (pl)
Portuguese: geado
Scottish Gaelic: reòta

having an aloof or inhospitable manner

Arabic: بارد
Chinese:
Mandarin: 冷漠的 (zh) (lěng mò)
Finnish: jäätävä (fi)
French: froid (fr), glacial (fr)
Irish: doicheallach
Polish: lodowaty (pl)

Middle English

Alternative forms

forsty, frosti

Etymology

From Old English forstiġ, from Proto-West Germanic *frostag, equivalent to frost +‎ -y. Compare Old English fyrstiġ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfrɔstiː/, /ˈfɔrstiː/

Adjective

frosty

cold, freezing, frosty (being or experiencing cold)
(rare) white (of a beard)

Descendants

English: frosty
Scots: frosty

References

“frostī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-02.