þýskur

Ískur is an Icelandic adjective meaning icy or extremely cold. It is used to describe weather conditions, surfaces such as roads or bodies of water, and environments that are frozen or have a sharp chill. The term can also appear in metaphorical language to convey a cold atmosphere or a frostiness in mood or demeanor.

Etymology and form: the word isk- is formed from the Icelandic root ís, meaning ice, with a productive adjective suffix, yielding a native descriptive adjective. It belongs to the common class of Icelandic adjectives and follows the language’s standard patterns of inflection to agree with gender, number, and case in noun phrases.

Usage notes: ískur is typically employed in neutral descriptive contexts such as weather reports, travel writing, or ordinary speech about winter conditions. In figurative use, it can convey coldness of tone or character. Like other Icelandic adjectives, its form changes with grammatical context, and learners should combine it with the appropriate noun and article endings.

See also: Icelandic language; weather terminology.