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Glite Dictionary
🌨️ Near the poles 🧊 A cold region
subpolar

subpolar

6.2
Near the North or South Pole with very cold weather
  • adjective
  • /sʌbˈpoʊlər/
translation icon : subpolar
  • The faults and the plates are so connected with each other, and earthquakes can be predicted by observing the foreshocks away from the point of actual breakage, especially in the polar and subpolar regions.

Examples

  • Past earthquakes have occurred after this location in the subpolar region was hit.

    Blog text (18)

  • The perhumid zone is the core of this biome; the subpolar and seasonal rain forests display transitional characteristics (Veblen and Alaback 1996).

    Academic text (1996)

  • Tuna return to this coast every summer and early fall to fatten up before moving on to spawn in the Gulf of Mexico or the Mediterranean, then take off on transoceanic migrations—some reaching subpolar waters off Norway, others swimming as far south as Brazil.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The subpolar region experiences long, cold winters and short, cool summers.

  • In the subpolar areas, the landscape is dramatically shaped by glacial activity.

  • Wildlife in the subpolar climate has adapted to extreme temperature fluctuations.

Synonyms

subarctic
vssubpolar
1 7.2

Areas just south of the Arctic Circle that have very cold winters and short summers

is broader, applying to areas near either polar circle rather than one side
subantarctic
vssubpolar
7.7

Relating to areas just north of Antarctica

is broader, applying to areas near either polar circle rather than one side

Antonyms

tropical
144 3.4

Relating to the region near the equator, often with hot weather and many plants

equatorial
16 5.2

Near or on the Earth's equator with warm, humid climate

How Cold

polar
121 4.2
subpolar
6.2
cold
∞ 1.0
cool
608 1.0
temperate
14 3.9

Surface Forms

subpolar positive

Morphology

subpolar = polar (transparent) = sub + polar

The prefix 'sub-' clearly indicates a position just outside or below the polar regions.

Etymology

The word subpolar combines the prefix sub- meaning 'below' and polar, which connects to the pole, as in the North Pole. So subpolar describes places that are 'just below' or near the poles, with very cold but not fully polar climates.