cold comfort

American  

noun

1. slight or negligible comfort; scarce consolation.

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of cold comfort

First recorded in 1565–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cold comfort

But for investors in bitcoin ETFs, this has probably been cold comfort.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

Yet this may be cold comfort to the Trump administration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026

But it also quite consciously plays to the baser side of us that takes cold comfort, even joy, at the miseries of the hyperwealthy.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2026

I could feel the cold comfort of my sheets in my own bed, and the gritty shingle in the cove.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier