icily

English

WOTD – 21 August 2010

Etymology

From icy +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪ.sɪ.li/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

icily (comparative more icily, superlative most icily)

1. In the manner of ice; with a cold or chilling effect.
   • 1971, Alan Sillitoe, Travels in Nihilon, page 76:

     The cold Alpine air flowed icily into his car, so he stopped by the roadside to put on a leather trench-coat, thick scarf, and woollen hat […]

2. (figuratively) In an uncaring or coolly angry manner.
   • 1943, M. F. K. Fisher, “To Feed Such Hunger”, in The Gastronomical Me:

     […] quite often her husband and Jo did not eat at home, or sat icily silent through a meal.

   • 1957, Ian Fleming, chapter 22, in From Russia With Love:

     Bond had pulled her head back by her hair and had kissed her once, long and cruelly. Then he had told her to go to sleep and had leant back and waited icily for his body to leave him alone.

   • 1958, A.G. Yates, The Cold Dark Hours, Sydney: Horwitz, published 1963, page 164:

     "So I was made to look the fool?" Jason said icily.

Synonyms

• (in the manner of ice): coldly
• (in an uncaring manner): aloofly, coldly

Related terms

• ice
• iciness
• icy

Translations

in the manner of ice

• Armenian: սառնորեն (hy) (saṙnoren)
• Finnish: jäätävästi (fi)
• Polish: lodowato
• Serbo-Croatian: ledeno (sh)

in an uncaring manner

• Armenian: սառնորեն (hy) (saṙnoren), սառնությամբ (saṙnutʻyamb)
• Finnish: jäätävästi (fi)
• Polish: lodowato
• Russian: хо́лодно (ru) (xólodno), безучастно (ru) (bezučastno), недружелюбно (ru) (nedruželjubno)
• Serbo-Croatian: hladno (sh)

References

• “icily”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “icily”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.