icy

English

Alternative forms

• icey (rare)
• ycie (obsolete)

Etymology

ice +‎ -y; cf. Old English īsiġ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪsi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪsi

Adjective

icy (comparative icier, superlative iciest)

1. Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in ice; cold; frosty.
   • 1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 342:

     To go through this experience in bitter winter weather and stumble along the line in the pitch darkness at 6 o'clock in the morning, into an icy-cold foundry, as was the writer's experience, was not too good.

2. Covered with ice, wholly or partially.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     With milke-white Hartes vpon an Iuorie ſled,
     Thou ſhalt be drawen amidſt the froſen Pooles,
     And ſcale the yſie mountaines lofty tops:
     Which with thy beautie will be soone reſolu’d.

3. Characterized by coldness of manner; frigid; cold.
   • 2006, Noire , Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 206:

     I wasn't all the way icy. It wasn't like I could just give a girl a baby and forget about them.

   • 2009, Sharon Kendrick, The Desert Princes Bundle: The Sheikh's English Bride:

     Gone was the gleam of desire, and the teasingly provocative remarks, and Alexa realised the truth in the saying that indifference was death. His demeanour was haughty and icy towards her.

4. (US, slang) To be wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, especially of the high-quality and expensive kind.
   • 2003, “Patiently Waiting”, in Curtis Jackson, Marshall Mathers, Luis Resto, Mike Elizondo (lyrics), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent:

     Your bitch's a regular bitch, you're calling her wifey, I fucked her, I feed her fast food, you're keeping her icy.

Derived terms

Translations

References

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

Anagrams

• CyI

Middle French

Adverb

icy

1. here

Descendants

• French: ici