Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to an anticyclone: Describes atmospheric conditions, weather patterns, or winds associated with an anticyclone—a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure.
   • Characterized by high pressure: Pertaining to the typical weather features of a high-pressure system, such as subsiding air, clear skies, and light winds.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The weather forecast predicts anticyclonic conditions, meaning we can expect a week of sunshine and calm.
  • Anticyclonic winds circulate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • The persistent anticyclonic pattern led to a prolonged drought in the region.

Advanced Usage

• "Anticyclonic gloom": A term sometimes used, particularly in winter, to describe the dull, overcast conditions that can occur under a stationary anticyclone due to trapped moisture and pollutants, despite the high pressure typically associated with clear skies.
  • The city was shrouded in anticyclonic gloom, with a thick layer of cloud trapping the cold air.

Variants and Related Words

• Anticyclone (n): The high-pressure weather system itself.
  • The anticyclone over the Atlantic is blocking the progress of rain fronts.
• Cyclonic (adj): The opposite condition, relating to a cyclone or low-pressure system.
  • Cyclonic activity often brings stormy weather.

Synonyms

• High-pressure (adj): Describing the atmospheric pressure condition central to an anticyclone.
  • High-pressure systems are generally associated with fair weather.

Related Phrases

• Anticyclonic rotation: The direction of wind flow around a high-pressure center.
  • Meteorologists study anticyclonic rotation to predict weather patterns.
• Anticyclonic circulation: The large-scale movement of air around a high-pressure area.
  • The map shows a strong anticyclonic circulation over the continent.

Adjective

1. of or relating to or characteristic of the atmosphere around a high pressure center