icy

/ˈaɪsi/

/ˈaɪsi/

Other forms: iciest; icier

Something that's icy is frozen like ice or covered in ice. A winter road could be icy; and, if you give someone an icy stare, they are going to feel like hitting the road.

Use the adjective icy to describe your town's slippery sidewalks in the winter or the frosty peas you just removed from the freezer. You can also describe very cold conditions as icy: "I'm putting my long underwear on — it's icy out there!" When a person is icy, they are aloof and unemotional, as opposed to warm and friendly. This figurative meaning has been around since the late 1500s.

Definitions of icy

1. adjective

   covered with or containing or consisting of ice
   “icy northern waters”

   synonyms:

   frozen

   turned into ice; affected by freezing or by long and severe cold
2. adjective

   shiny and slick as with a thin coating of ice
   “roads and trees glazed with an icy film”

   synonyms:

   glazed, shiny

   having a shiny surface or coating
3. adjective

   extremely cold
   “icy hands”

   synonyms: arctic, freezing, frigid, gelid, glacial, polar

   cold

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

   devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain
   “icy stare”

   synonyms: frigid, frosty, frozen, glacial, wintry

   cold

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