cold

/kəʊld/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/kɔwld/

cold adjective: having a low temperature.

Adjective

cold (comparative colder, superlative coldest)

Having a low temperature.
- A cold wind whistled through the trees.
- As cold waters to a thirstie soule: so is good newes from a farre countrey.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 25:25
Synonyms:

chilled, chilly, freezing, frigid, glacial, icy, cool

Antonyms:

baking, boiling, heated, hot, scorching, searing, torrid, warm, calid, choleric
Causing the air to be cold.
- The forecast is that it will be very cold today.
- As fruits of hotter countries, transearthed in colder climates, have vigour enough in themselves to be fructuous according to their nature: but, that they are hindered by the chilling nips of the air, and the soil, wherein they are planted.1904, Owen Felltham, William Henry Oliphant Smeaton, Resolves
Synonyms:

brass monkeys, nippy, parky, taters

Antonyms:

hot, calid, choleric, heated
Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.
- She was so cold she was shivering.
Antonyms:

hot, calid, choleric, heated
Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.
- She shot me a cold glance before turning her back.
- At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness. She was not repulsed, but her reception was cold; and this hurt her almost as badly.1850, T. S. Arthur, “Happy on a Little”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 89
Synonyms:

aloof, distant, hostile, standoffish, unfriendly, unwelcoming, cool, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get

Antonyms:

amiable, friendly, welcoming
Chilled, filled with an uncomfortable sense of fear, dread, or alarm.
- Yet oft when sundown skirts the moor
  ⁠An inner trouble I behold,
  ⁠A spectral doubt which makes me cold,
  That I shall be thy mate no more, […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 63
Synonyms:

apprehensive
Dispassionate; not prejudiced or partisan; impartial.
- Let's look at this tomorrow with a cold head.
- He's a nice guy, but the cold facts say we should fire him.
Synonyms:

disinterested, indifferent, candid, clinical, detached, egal, equal, equitable, evenhanded, fairhanded
Completely unprepared; without introduction.
- He was assigned cold calls for the first three months.
- The one thing considered the brass ring in selling insurance was making a sale on a cold canvass. Cold canvassing was the most dreaded exercise for most insurance salesmen.2019, Kelly D. Harrison, Air Force Cop: An Autobiography, page 100
Synonyms:

unprepared, unready

Antonyms:

prepared, primed, ready
Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the metaphorical heat associated with life or consciousness.
- I knocked him out cold.
- After one more beer he passed out cold.
(usually) Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart; down pat.
- Practice your music scales until you know them cold.
- Try both these maneuvers until you have them cold and can do them in the dark without thinking.
(usually) Cornered; done for.
- With that receipt, we have them cold for fraud.
- Criminal interrogation. Initially they will dream up explanations faster than you could ever do so, but when they become fatigued, often they will acknowledge that you have them cold.
(slang) Cool, impressive.
- There were more than a few unforgettable moments from Sunday's Game 7 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. Steph Curry came up with an epic performance on a record-setting evening, and he also produced one of the coldest photos of the NBA Playoffs thus far.2023 May 1, Paolo Songco, “Warriors star Steph Curry's cold 'night night' pic vs. Kings goes completely viral”, in ClutchPoints, archived from the original on 30 May 2023
- Lowkey she so cold for that2023 August 3, @67x4L, Twitter, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2023
(obsolete) Not pungent or acrid.
- cold plants1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
Synonyms:

mild, neutral

Show 10 more meaningsShow fewer meanings

(obsolete) Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.
- What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter
- The jest grows cold[…]when it comes on in a second scene.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
Synonyms:

colourless, lifeless, banal, basic, mindless, beat, blah, commonplace, bland, boring
Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.
- a cold scent
(obsolete) Not sensitive; not acute.
- Smell this business with a sense as cold / As is a dead man's nose.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed. Compare warm and hot.
- You're cold … getting warmer … hot! You've found it!
(painting) Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.

Synonyms:

bluey, bluish, caesious, cerulescent
Rarely used or accessed, and thus able to be relegated to slower storage.
(informal) Without compassion; heartless; ruthless.
- I can't believe she said that...that was cold!
- River Song: (upon seeing the still-living Doctor, moments after he made her and two other friends watch what they thought was his death) This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold.2011 April 23, The Impossible Astronaut (Doctor Who), season series 6, episode 1
Synonyms:

cold-eyed, frosty, icy, uncompassionate, brutal, callous, insensate, hardhanded, cruel, dour
(informal) Not radioactive.
- "That's right," Jackson said. "The Old Man will be pleased to welcome you." There was eagerness in his reedy voice. "What do you say? We'll take care of you. Feed you, bring you cold plants and animals. For a week maybe?"1953, Philip K. Dick, “Planet for Transients”, in Fantastic Universe magazine, number Oct-Nov 1953, page 64
Antonyms:

hot, radioactive
Not loaded with a round of live ammunition.
Without electrical power being supplied.
- Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delay in the trouble-shooting procedure, it is good practice to make a resistance check on a "cold" circuit (before applying power), to determine whether resistance values are normal.1956, Philco Corporation, Handbook of Test Methods and Practices, page 3–3
Synonyms:

dead

Noun (1)

cold (countable and uncountable, plural colds)

(uncountable) A condition of low temperature.
- Come in, out of the cold.
Synonyms:

coldness
(figuratively) A harsh place; a place of abandonment.
- The former politician was left out in the cold after his friends deserted him.
(countable) A common, usually harmless, usually viral illness, usually with congestion of the nasal passages and sometimes fever.
- I caught a miserable cold and had to stay home for a week
- Dr. Jon S. Abramson, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Wake Forest Medical School, has found no medical evidence to support feeding a cold and starving a fever. He is particularly offended by the latter part of the phrase. […] “Always feed both colds and fevers,” Abramson said.2016 September 16, Hailey Middlebrook, “Should you really feed a cold and starve a fever?”, in CNN
(slang, uncountable) Rheum; sleepy dust.
- Who the fuck is this, pagin' me at 5:46 in the morning? / crack of dawn and now I'm yawnin' / wipe the cold out my eye, see who's this pagin' me and why1994, Notorious B.I.G., Warning
- But I remember this, moms would lick her finger tips / to wipe the cold out my eye before school with her spit1996, Ghostface Killah, All That I Got Is You

Adverb

cold (comparative more cold, superlative most cold)

At a low temperature.
- The steel was processed cold.
Without preparation.
- The speaker went in cold and floundered for a topic.
- Two weeks after it closed, he started rehearsals for Cheer Up, a new play by Mary Roberts Rinehart booked into the Harris Theatre. It was to open cold without any out-of-town tryout under the direction of a young Cecil B. DeMille […]2008, Geddeth Smith, Walter Hampden: Dean of the American Theatre, page 104
(dated, informal, slang) In a cold, frank, or realistically honest manner.
- Now Little Bo Peep cold lost her sheep / And Rip van Winkle fell the hell asleep1986, Run-DMC, Peter Piper.

Noun (2) capitalized: COLD

COLD (uncountable)

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of computer output to laser disc.

cold meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

cold in Hindi

having a low temperature: ठंडा ṭhaṇḍā, शीत śīt, शीतल śītal, हिम him, सर्द sard
of the weather: सर्द sard
low temperature: शीतल śītal
illness — see also flu, catarrh: सर्दी sardī, ज़ुकाम zukām, जुकाम jukām, प्रतिश्याय pratiśyāy

cold in Tamil

having a low temperature: குளுழு kuḷuḻu, பணி paṇi

cold in Marathi

having a low temperature: थंड thaṇḍa
of the weather: थंडी thaṇḍī
low temperature: थंडी thaṇḍī
illness — see also flu, catarrh: सर्दी sardī

cold in Urdu

having a low temperature: ٹَھنْڈا ṭhanḍā, سَرْد sard
illness — see also flu, catarrh: زکام zukām, سردی sardī

More languagesFewer languages

cold in Bengali: ঠান্ডা ṭhanḍa, শীত śit, শৈত্য śōitto, হৈম hōim
cold in Telugu: శీతల śītala, చల్లని callani, ప్రఛ్ఛన్న prachchanna, శీతలం śītalaṁ
cold in Malayalam: തണുത്ത taṇutta, ശീത śīta, തണുപ്പ് taṇuppŭ, ശീതം śītaṁ
cold in Kannada: ತಣ್ಣನೆಯ taṇṇaneya
cold in Punjabi: ਠਂਡਾ ṭhaṇḍā
cold in Gujarati: ઠંડું ṭhaṇḍũ
cold in Odia: ଶୀତଳ śitaḷa, ଥଣ୍ଡା thaṇḍā
cold in Sanskrit: शीत śīta, प्रतिश्याय pratiśyāya
cold in Sinhala: සීතල sītala
cold in Assamese: চেঁচা sẽsa, ঠাণ্ডা thanda, শীতল xitol
cold in Nepali: चिसो ciso, ठण्डा ṭhaṇḍā
cold in Pashto: سوړ soṛ, ساړه sâṛë
cold in Tagalog: lamig, maginaw, malamig, malamíg
cold in Arabic: بَارِد bārid, برد bard, بَرْد bard, بَرْدَان bardān
cold in Malay: sejuk, dingin, selesema
cold in Indonesian: dingin, pilek
cold in Persian: سَرْد sard, سرما sarmâ, زکام zokâm, سرماخوردگی sarmâ-xordegi
cold in Thai: เย็น yen, หนาว nǎao, เย็นชา yen-chaa, หวัด wàt
cold in Vietnamese: lạnh, lạnh lẽo, nguội, rét
cold in Myanmar: အေး e:, ချမ်း hkyam:, အအေး a.e:
Dzongkha: ཁོད་སི་སི། khod si si

Examples of cold in a sentence

The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.
Rehearse your lines until you have them down cold.
Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold.
Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC...
I had always supposed that playboys didn't give a hoot for anything except blondes and cold bottles.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter V, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
If it does, give it a cold look and walk through it.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with cold

Synonyms of cold

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of cold

Forms of cold

Adjective
comparative	colder
superlative	coldest
Noun
plural	colds
Adverb
comparative	more cold
superlative	most cold

Plural of cold: colds

Origin of cold

Inherited from Middle English cold, from Anglian Old English cald. The West Saxon form, ċeald (“cold”), survived as early Middle English cheald, cheld, or chald. Both descended from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz (“cold”), a participle form of *kalaną (“to be cold, to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to be cold, to freeze”). Cognates Cognate with Scots cauld (“cold”), Saterland Frisian koold (“cold”), West Frisian kâld (“cold”), Alemannic German chalt, choalt, cholt, chélte (“cold”), Bavarian ckolt, kholt, koid, kòlt (“cold”), Central Franconian kalt (“cold”), Cimbrian kalt, khalt (“cold”), Dutch koud (“cold”), German kalt (“cold”), Low German kold, koolt (“cold”), Luxembourgish kal (“cold”), Mòcheno khòlt, kòlt (“cold”), Vilamovian kāłt (“cold”), Yiddish קאַלט (kalt, “cold”), Danish kold (“cold”), Faroese and Icelandic kaldur (“cold”), Norwegian Bokmål kald (“cold”), Norwegian Nynorsk kald, kald’u (“cold”), Swedish kall (“cold”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (kalds, “cold”); also Latin gelū, gelum, gelus (“frost; chill, cold”), Belarusian хо́лад (xólad, “cold”), Bulgarian хлад (hlad, “chill, coolness”), Czech chlad (“cold”), Macedonian лад (lad, “shade...

Inherited from Middle English cold, colde, from Old English cald, ċeald (“cold, coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldą (“coldness”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Keelde (“cold”), West Frisian kjeld (“cold”), Dutch koude (“cold”), German Low German Kolle, Koll (“cold”), German Kälte (“cold”), Danish kulde (“cold”), Swedish köld (“cold”), Norwegian kulde (“cold”), Icelandic kuldi (“cold”).

Inherited from Middle English colde, from Old English calde, ċealde (“coldly”), from the adjective (see above).

Words formed from cold

Phrases with cold

164 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with cold

30 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cold

What does cold mean?: Cold means having a low temperature.
What is cold in Hindi?: Cold in Hindi is ठंडा (ṭhaṇḍā), शीत (śīt), शीतल (śītal). See Cold meaning in Hindi.
How do you use cold in a sentence?: The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.
What part of speech is cold?: Cold can be an adjective, a noun or an adverb.
How do you pronounce cold?: Cold is pronounced /kəʊld/ (UK).

Words near cold in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cold (page history and authors); COLD (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-cold.ogg, En-us-cold.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cold.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cold. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.