Blizzardy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by extreme snowfall and powerful winds
2. Describing severe winter weather featuring heavy snow and strong gusts
3. Showing weather conditions with intense snowstorms and strong, gusty winds

Etymology: "Blizzardy" is simply "blizzard" with the adjective-forming suffix "-y" attached, the same ending found in "snowy," "windy," and "stormy." The suffix comes from Old English "-ig," which meant "full of" or "having the quality of," so a blizzardy day is one full of blizzard conditions. The base word itself is the more surprising part. "Blizzard" first appeared in print in American English in the 1830s, and at that time it meant a sharp blow or a volley of shots, not a snowstorm. Its later snowstorm sense developed in the United States in the 1870s, and the word was then applied to violent winter weather with heavy snow and strong wind. Because "blizzardy" is built directly on that later sense, it carries the same combination of snow and wind in its meaning.

Synonyms: snowy, stormy, wintry, blustery, icy