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cold

adjective · noun · adverb

Simple meaning

Having a low temperature.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kohld
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkoʊld

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration

  2. of a thing

    Having a low temperature.

  3. of a person or animal

    Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.

  4. Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.

  5. Chilled, filled with an uncomfortable sense of fear, dread, or alarm.

  6. Completely unprepared; without introduction.

noun

  1. uncountable

    A condition of low temperature.

  2. with 'the'figurative

    A harsh place; a place of abandonment.

  3. uncountableslang

    Rheum; sleepy dust.

adverb

  1. At a low temperature.

  2. Without preparation.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration

Used this way, cold is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.

Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Critical but measured

Nearby words

  • nippy , more casual, better suited to speech than writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use cold

  • “Will they never find a cure for the common cold?”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Feeling

cold weathercold water

Perfectly

cold blood

Other combinations

cold springcold storagecold aircold wintercold wind

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cold cashnounCompound term

    Money in the form of cash that is readily available.

  • cold cathodenounCompound term

    A cathode that is a source of electrons without being heated.

  • cold cerealnounCompound term

    A cereal that is not heated before serving.

  • cold chiselnounCompound term

    Narrow chisel made of steel.

  • cold comfortnounCompound term

    Very limited consolation or empathy.

  • cold-creamverbCompound term

    Put cold cream on one's face.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: having a low or inadequate temperature

arctic

noun

Sense: low temperature

cool

Antonyms

Sense: having a low or inadequate temperature

hot

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.