Definition

Adjective: 1. Covered with frost or rime: Describes something that has a coating of white ice crystals (frost) formed by the freezing of water vapor, typically on a cold surface.

Usage

• This word is used to describe objects, landscapes, or surfaces that have become frosty or icy. It is a descriptive term often found in literary or poetic contexts to evoke a cold, wintry scene.
• It functions as an adjective and typically comes before a noun or after a linking verb like "was" or "were."

Examples

• The rimed branches of the trees glittered in the morning sun.
• Our breath fogged the rimed windowpane.
• The entire field was rimed with a delicate layer of ice.

Advanced Usage

• The word rimed is the adjectival form of the noun rime. While frost is the more common general term, rime often refers specifically to a rough, white ice deposit formed by the rapid freezing of supercooled water droplets in fog onto cold surfaces (known as ). Therefore, rimed can imply this specific type of feathery frost formation.

Variants and Related Words

• Rime (noun): The white frost itself.
  • A thick rime covered the ship's rigging.
• Frosted (adjective): A more common synonym meaning covered with frost.
• Hoary (adjective): Can mean grayish-white, often with age, but also used poetically to mean frost-covered (e.g., ).

Synonyms

• Frost-covered
• Frosted
• Icy
• Hoar-frosted

Antonyms

• Thawed
• Defrosted
• Clear

Adjective

1. covered with frost
   • a frosty glass
   • hedgerows were rimed and stiff with frost-Wm.Faulkner