• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Fantasy Synonyms for Cold (Freeze, Frost, Extreme Cold...etc)

RogueDeus

Acolyte
For some reason I agonize over small things like what words to use as descriptors for damage types or points of interest and for the life of me I can't seem to find an acceptable synonym for Ice and/or the act of becoming frozen.

There just seems to be an unusual lack of words meaning cold.

The context is a computer RPG I am in the process of creating. I have decided to limit myself to 8 damage types, such as elemental types and extraordinary types like 'Primordial' damage representing the original forces of destruction, or 'Infernal' damage representing fire... I have scanned pretty much all the free online Thesaurus' I can find and simply can't settle for any of their offerings.

So, I am wondering if anyone here might have a literary word reference, or real word from any language, that can capture the impact of a Titanic Ice Dragons frozen breath, as a form of measurable damage?

Thanks for your time.
 

RogueDeus

Acolyte
Frigid is the one that came to my mind first.

Thanks. That is one of my fall backs in case I find nothing better.

A few more are: Arctic, Boreal, Glacial, Polar... I would consider Hyperborean but it has happy connotations.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
I think there are more words available.
frosty
hoar
cool
chilly
icy
niveous
frozen, freezing
snowy

and, of course, various permutations of the word cold from other languages. That's always nice if you're looking to create a "new" word.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Static. The colder something is, the slower it moves, until at 0k even atoms stand still (or something like that).

Perpetuating, crystalizing, shivering.
 
Last edited:

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Delve into mythology a bit. 'Permia' was a mythical Scandinavian land renown for its cold temperatures.

Or go with the chief of the frost giants, Thyrm. He could pretty much trip off an ice age by himself...or at least a really deep winter
 

Shreddies

Troubadour
Well, if you want something that lines up with Infernal and Primordial, then you could try some more archaic terms like:

Algid (Cold or chilly)
Frore (Frozen or maybe frosted)
Gelid (Extremely cold, but it reminds me of gelled)
Brumal (Relating to winter)
Hibernal (Another term for winter)
Hiemal (A less common variant of Hibernal. And another wintry term)

Brumal and Hiemal sound like they could fit in with Primordial and Infernal.
 

RogueDeus

Acolyte
Thanks for all the suggestions. After some casual use I have narrowed it down to Hibernal, Frigid, or Glacial. Niveous is a little to obscure and would likely do better as a Prefix/Suffix for an equipment type rather than a damage type.

Thanks again. :)
 
Top