icily.

1. With a cold, unfriendly manner, often controlled rather than openly heated.

2. In a freezing or sharply cold way.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• reply icily
• stare icily

On the page

“You knew,” she said icily, setting down the letter.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Invariable adverb. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, description. Commonness: moderately common.