ice-cold
/'ais'kould/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely cold; as cold as ice: Describes something having a very low temperature, similar to that of ice.
- Completely lacking warmth or emotion: Describes a person, attitude, or atmosphere that is emotionally distant, unfriendly, or unfeeling.
Usage Examples
- Literal Temperature:
- After being in the freezer all day, the soda was ice-cold.
- She offered me an ice-cold glass of water on the hot day.
- Figurative Emotion/Atmosphere:
- His ice-cold stare made everyone in the room uncomfortable.
- The negotiations were conducted in an ice-cold atmosphere of mutual distrust.
Advanced Usage
- "ice-cold certainty": A state of being absolutely and unemotionally sure.
- He stated his decision with ice-cold certainty, leaving no room for argument.
- "ice-cold logic": Reasoning that is ruthlessly rational and devoid of emotional considerations.
- The plan was based on ice-cold logic, ignoring the human cost.
Variants and Related Words
- Ice-coldly (adverb): In an extremely cold or emotionally distant manner.
- He rejected the proposal ice-coldly.
- Stone-cold (adjective): Very similar in meaning, often used interchangeably with "ice-cold" for both temperature and emotion.
Synonyms
- Freezing: Very cold.
- Frigid: Very cold in temperature; also used for a lack of warmth of feeling.
- Gelid: A formal/literary word meaning very cold.
- Glacial: Like ice or glaciers; very cold; also meaning very slow or showing no emotion.
Related Phrases
- To give someone the ice-cold shoulder: A variant of "to give someone the cold shoulder," meaning to deliberately ignore or be unfriendly to someone.
- After their argument, she gave him the ice-cold shoulder for a week.
Related Idioms
- (As) cold as ice: Functionally identical in meaning to the adjective "ice-cold."
- Her hands were as cold as ice.
- To turn ice-cold: To suddenly become very cold in temperature or demeanor.
- The room turned ice-cold when he entered.
Adjective
- as cold as ice