glacial

adj

1. Of, or relating to glaciers.

   “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.”

2. (figuratively)Very slow.

   “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.”

   “By all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.”

   “Progress on judicial reform has been glacial, meeting enormous resistance.”

3. Cold and icy.

   “After the rain and frost, the pavements were glacial.”

4. Having the appearance of ice.

   “On cold days, glacial acetic acid will freeze in the bottle.”

5. (figuratively)Cool and unfriendly.

   “He gave me a glacial stare.”

noun

1. A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).

name

1. Of the Pleistocene period dominated by the presence of glaciers.