Standard Lemma guide

frosty

adj · name · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɹɒsti/
  • General-American: /ˈfɹɔsti/
  • General-American: /ˈfɹɑs-/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒsti
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F R AO1 S T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Cold, chilly; icy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The air was frosty; I could see my breath and walked quickly with my hands in my pockets.
  • I'd like a frosty milkshake.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frigid, wintry, algid, Arctic, Baltic, boreal, brass monkeys, brumal, chill, chilled, chilly, clay-cold, cold, cold as a mackerel, cold as charity, freezing, frosty, frore, frozen, gelid, glacial, hiemal, icy, inclement, nesh, nippy, parky, polar, sleety, snowy, taters

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Having frost on it or in it.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frostbound, frosted, rimed

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Having an aloof or inhospitable manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • After the divorce, she was civil but frosty to her ex.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cool, harsh, severe, aloof, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get, offish, quiet, remote, standoffish, strange, thorny, touch-me-not-ish, unapproachable, unbending, undemonstrative, unimpressionable, uninvolved, brutal, callous, cold, cold-eyed, cruel, dour, flint-hearted, forbidding, grim, hard, hard-boiled, hardened, hardhearted, heartless, humorless, icy, iron-hearted, insensate, insensitive, marble-hearted, rigorous, rockhearted, stern, stonehearted, stony, stonyhearted, strict, tough, unsympathetic, unmoved

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

A generic name for a snowman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

pleasantly cold and invigorating

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • crisp clear nights and frosty mornings
  • a nipping wind
  • a nippy fall day
  • snappy weather

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: crisp, nipping, nippy, snappy

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

covered with frost-Wm.Faulkner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a frosty glass
  • hedgerows were rimed and stiff with frost

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rimed, rimy

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a frigid greeting
  • got a frosty reception
  • a frozen look on their faces
  • a glacial handshake
  • icy stare
  • wintry smile

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: frigid, frozen, glacial, icy, wintry

Antonyms: none provided

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

57 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: ayaz — cold, chilly
  • Azerbaijani: şaxtalı — cold, chilly
  • Azerbaijani: ayazlı — cold, chilly
  • Bulgarian: мразовит (mrazovit) — cold, chilly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 凜冽 /凛冽 (lǐnliè) — cold, chilly
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嚴寒 /严寒 (yánhán) — cold, chilly
  • Czech: mrazivý — cold, chilly
  • Dutch: vorstig — cold, chilly
  • Finnish: jäätävä — cold, chilly
  • Finnish: jääkylmä — cold, chilly
  • French: froid — cold, chilly
  • French: gelé — cold, chilly
  • French: givré — cold, chilly
  • French: glacial — cold, chilly
  • Galician: xeadento — cold, chilly
  • Galician: xélido — cold, chilly
  • German: frostig — cold, chilly
  • Ancient Greek: παχνώδης (pakhnṓdēs) — cold, chilly
  • Ido: koldeta — cold, chilly
  • Italian: gelido — cold, chilly
  • Italian: ghiacciato — cold, chilly
  • Italian: gelato — cold, chilly
  • Middle English: frosty — cold, chilly
  • Plautdietsch: frostich — cold, chilly
  • Polish: mroźny — cold, chilly
  • Portuguese: gélido — cold, chilly
  • Russian: моро́зный (moróznyj) — cold, chilly
  • Scottish Gaelic: reòta — cold, chilly
  • Welsh: rhewllyd — cold, chilly
  • Bulgarian: заскрежен (zaskrežen) — having frost on it
  • Chinese Mandarin: 結冰的 /结冰的 (jiébīng de) — having frost on it
  • Chinese Mandarin: 結霜的 /结霜的 (jiéshuāng de) — having frost on it
  • Finnish: huurteinen — having frost on it
  • French: givré — having frost on it
  • French: gelé — having frost on it
  • Ancient Greek: παχνώδης (pakhnṓdēs) — having frost on it
  • Italian: coperto di ghiaccio — having frost on it
  • Latin: pruīnōsus — having frost on it
  • Māori: hauhunga — having frost on it
  • Plautdietsch: frostich — having frost on it
  • Polish: oszroniony — having frost on it
  • Portuguese: geado — having frost on it
  • Scottish Gaelic: reòta — having frost on it
  • Spanish: con carama — having frost on it
  • Spanish: con cencellada — having frost on it
  • Spanish: con cenceñada — having frost on it
  • Spanish: con recencellada — having frost on it
  • Spanish: escarchado — having frost on it
  • Spanish: helado — having frost on it
  • Arabic: بارد — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 冷漠 (lěngmò) — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 冰冷 (bīnglěng) — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • Finnish: jäätävä — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • French: froid — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • French: glacial — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • Irish: doicheallach — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
  • Polish: lodowaty — having an aloof or inhospitable manner
Real reading context

frosty in complete knowledge articles

Jay Moriarity Arts & music · Challenging · 3 uses