cold comfort

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English

Etymology

Popularized by William Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew, see quotations.

Pronunciation

Noun

cold comfort (countable and uncountable, plural cold comforts)

  1. (idiomatic) Much less reassurance, consolation, aid, or pleasure than one needs or desires.
    • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 221, column 1:
      […] or ſhall I complaine on thee to our miſtris, whoſe hand / (ſhe being now at hand) thou ſhalt ſoone feele, to thy / cold comfort, for being ſlow in thy hot office.
    • 1863, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 6, in Miles Wallingford‎:
      The table was smoking and hissing; and Romeo Clawbonny, who acted as the everyday house-servant, or footman, had several times intimated that it might be well to commence operations, as a cold breakfast was very cold comfort.
    • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 9, in At the Earth's Core:
      At least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it.
    • 2010 April 8, Ben Lando, “U.S. Officials Downplay Rash of Baghdad Attacks”, in Time‎, archived from the original on 18 July 2013:
      But statistics are cold comfort when the latest explosion has leveled a nearby building.

Translations

References

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