leave one cold

Disappoint one, fail to interest one. For example, This book leaves me cold. This expression, first recorded in 1853, employs cold in the sense of “unenthusiastic” or “indifferent,” a usage dating from the late 1100s.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They leave one cold despite their erotic vehemence; the abuse of the vocative is not persuasive, their raptures are largely rhetorical.

Leave one cold; warm the other over the burner, but do not heat it to boiling.

Like his learning, which may astonish the simple, but which hardly illuminates the student, his virtues leave one cold.

No really good instruction, any more than good story books, will leave one cold toward the theme in hand.

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