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

“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

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

“That is cold comfort for a consumer who has been struggling with four years of exorbitant cumulative inflation and is looking for relief,” Moskow said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 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