cold shower

Idioms  

1. A surprisingly chilly reception, reaction, or response, as in The small voter turnout was a cold shower to the League of Women Voters. The allusion in this term is to the unexpected and not always pleasant effect of an ice-cold shower. [Second half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cold shower

There’s a cold shower to unwind, dinner of more protein and vegetables, and he eventually retires for the night at 10 p.m.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Participants briefly cooled down under a cold shower halfway through the session.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

"He was very firm. It was a cold shower," one source shared.

From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2025

Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, says generative AI will have a "cold shower" in 2024.

From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2023

But then again, that’s the point—when you take a cold shower you’re supposed to get in and out as fast as possible; that’s why they do it in the army.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini