cold as ice
4
7.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
frío como el hielo
- When he refused to help, his response was as cold as ice and unfeeling as ever.
- eyes as cold as ice
- voice as cold as ice
Bro, I swear to you, you are cold as ice, bro, Star Wars stinks.
- Bro, I swear to you, you are cold as ice, bro, Star Wars stinks.
- One minute and I'm cold as ice the next.
- I didn't have happy eyes no more and I was cold as ice and I was a fucking professional killer.
Examples
-
He looked at her with a cold as ice stare, revealing his lack of emotion.
-
You're cold as ice.
-
One minute and I'm cold as ice the next.
-
Their hearts for homeowners are as cold as ice.
Blog text (2) -
She's as cold as ice.
-
Her mother stared at her, as cold as ice.
Fiction book (2002) -
Lori's heart is breaking, but Quaid's is cold as ice.
Fiction book (1990) -
I'm cold as ice.
-
I mean, he's a great-looking guy, but he's cold as ice.
-
Her actions were as cold as ice, showing no compassion for those in need.
Synonyms
883
4.4
Unfriendly and distant in feeling or action
79
4.1
Not showing kindness or sympathy to others
54
6.1
Showing no pity and acting cruel on purpose
22
3.3
Cold and unfriendly in tone or manner
16
3.5
Not friendly or warm toward other people
14
5.9
Not showing sympathy or care for other people's feelings
9
3.6
Unfriendly and showing little warmth towards other people
8
5.2
Not friendly or warm in how someone acts
7
4.9
Not feeling sorry for someone or caring about their problems
7
6.5
Showing no feeling or sympathy
4
6.0
Showing no care or sympathy for other people
1
8.6
A person who does not show care for other people
1
7.6
Not showing strong feeling when judging something
Acting kind but not showing real care
Not feeling sorry for other people
Not warm or friendly in manner
Very cold in behavior, showing no warmth or friendliness
Showing no warmth or feeling
Does not feel or show care for other people
Very formal and cold in a way that makes people feel unwelcome
Antonyms
How Unfriendly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'cold' and 'ice' to signal an extreme degree of coldness, which is directly interpretable from the constituents. The emotional sense 'emotionally unfeeling' is a common metaphorical extension (cold = lacking warmth) found across many languages, so the meaning is partially predictable but requires a metaphorical inference rather than purely compositional derivation.
Etymology
The idiom cold as ice comes from a simple image: real ice is very cold, hard, and gives no warmth, so saying someone is cold as ice means they seem distant and 'unfeeling'.