Winter is a favorite season for many. Even if you prefer another time of year, you still probably appreciate some of winter’s delights. So let’s celebrate the season with ten wintry words!
Joyful means full of joy or delight. It describes events or sights that cause joy, such as the birth of a baby or the sight of freshly fallen snow.
Joyous means happy or jubilant. It is a synonym of joyful.
Have you heard winter songs or stories mention sugarplums? Is it a type of fruit that ripens in the winter? No, sugarplum refers to a number different delicacies made of a sweetener such as sugar, fruit preserves, or honey, ingredients for color, and various flavors. Look on this scene of Charlotte Bronte’s Villette.
Crisp often describes the bracing, invigorating air of winter. It also epitomizes the sounds—the snapping of frozen twigs or the crunch of leaves beneath your feet.
Hoarfrost is just ordinary frost, but it’s called hoarfrost because of its appearance as it coats leaves and grass. Hoary means gray or white with age. Here’s a quote from Jane Hamilton’s A Map of the World.
Gingerbread is a ginger- and molasses-flavored cake or cookie. It is a very popular winter treat.
Sparkling is the perfect word for the magical ambience set by a fresh snowfall. Each individual snowflake sparkles like a carpet of white glitter. Icicles and frost also catch the sunlight and add to the dazzling display.
Berets are associated with France, but you will see people wearing them in other cold climate places. A beret is a wide, round cap with no visor. Sometimes, it has a tab in the center. According to a fashion website called Blonde Salad, it’s the “hat of the moment.”
Unsullied is a word that means uncontaminated and clean. People often use it to refer to pristine snow before it has been dirtied by cars or people.
Wintertide is a literary term for wintertime. The tide of wintertide is from an Old English word meaning time or hour. One stanza of the poem “Diffugere Nives,” a poem of Horace translated by A. E. Housman, features the term.
When you ask people why winter is their favorite season, they often mention memories of eating gingerbread, playing in the sparkling snow, or breathing the crisp, clean air. What’s your favorite wintertide memory? Why not use these ten magical winter words to write about it?
