Definition of HOARFROST

the hoarfrost formed a delicate swirly pattern on the window

Recent Examples on the Web

From a reading delivered in November in Richmond, Virginia. e began to figure it out on day eleven or twelve of the seven-day trip, the slate and obsidian waves rolling under our stern, the crispy hoarfrost of whitecap foam seeding in our beards, the wind spitting ice in our eyes. —Mark Richard, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025 Nearby, hoarfrost shimmered on hemlock branches, a bear cub peered out from a hole in the snow, and a sudden, terrifying silence echoed in the ears of the man’s ski partners. —Caroline Van Hemert, Outside Online, 11 Aug. 2021 The hoarfrost in the subzero temperatures lifted a clean, white layer into the air that sparkled in the low sun. —Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Dec. 2019

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of hoarfrost was in the 14th century