glissade means A sliding, as down a snow slope in the Alps. It carries an Arena rating of 1522, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, glissade ranks #195 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #822 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #3,209 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #3,295 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
glissade is pronounced /ɡlɪˈseɪd/.
Why “glissade” is a great word
A controlled slide or glide, especially down a snowy slope or as a gliding step in ballet. From the French glissade, from glisser ('to slip, slide'), from Frankish *glīdan or another Germanic source (cognate with Dutch glissen), from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną ('to glide'); first attested in English in the 1830s. Unlike 'slide,' which implies an accidental loss of traction, or 'glide,' which suggests a fluid passage through air or water, a glissade is a deliberate, technical art. It is the alpinist's swift, diagonal descent in a spray of powder; the ballerina's smooth, low traverse across the polished stage; the hushed rush of skis finding their edge in packed powder—the knowledge that grace is not the absence of friction, but its measured surrender.
Etymology
Borrowed from French glissade.
noun
- A sliding, as down a snow slope in the Alps.
- A gliding step beginning and ending in a demi-plié in second position.
- A move in some dances such as the galop.
- A fencing move that may disarm the opponent.
verb
- To perform a glissade.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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