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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cold comfort

For shareholders waiting in line for the rest of their money, a fund’s boast of billions in liquidity is cold comfort.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026

Still, that’s cold comfort because the health of the business is at the heart of Klarna’s struggle.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

Lacey distributes one piece of wintergreen gum to each of us, but it’s cold comfort.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

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