cold comfort

American  

noun

1. slight or negligible comfort; scarce consolation.

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cold comfort Idioms  

1. Slight or no consolation. For example, He can't lend us his canoe but will tell us where to rent one—that's cold comfort. The adjective cold was being applied to comfort in this sense by the early 1300s, and Shakespeare used the idiom numerous times.

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Etymology

Origin of cold comfort

First recorded in 1565–75

Example Sentences

Yet this may be cold comfort to the Trump administration.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

That, however, is cold comfort for discretionary stocks and their investors.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

“Unrelated,” said his lawyers, which was cold comfort for everyone else.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026

Even an apology from Gates and an agreement by Bill and Hillary Clinton to testify on their ties to Epstein are cold comfort, survivors say.

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2026

“Who remembers the cold comfort of that open hearth before we built a new school with its patented front-loader chunk stove with isinglass winders?”

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck