cold comfort

noun

slight or negligible comfort; scarce consolation.

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Word History and Origins

First recorded in 1565–75

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Idioms and Phrases

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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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

That may be cold comfort for Americans adversely affected by the Doge chainsaw, however.

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That he is not the first world leader to use violence or war to avoid prison offers cold comfort.

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Trump's words after the Chinese app's sudden emergence in recent days were probably cold comfort to the likes of Altman and Ellison.

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The Democratic governor characterized California’s economic might as “cold comfort” to regions that feel like they don’t fully participate in the state’s muscular output.

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All that is admittedly cold comfort to the Palestinians caught in the crossfire, the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza and the growing displaced populations of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

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cold color cold cream

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