cold comfort
noun
: quite limited sympathy, consolation, or encouragement
Such remonstrances against panic are cold comfort to the working-class people affected …—
Gilbert Taylor
Gilbert TaylorExamples of cold comfort in a Sentence
The good news about the economy is cold comfort to people who have lost their jobs.
Recent Examples on the Web
This might be a cold comfort, but in my book, nothing hits better than a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers the next day.
—R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 6 Dec. 2025
Though in geologic time, the advent of the Industrial Revolution is only a hair’s breadth removed from our current moment, that’s cold comfort to people born after 9/11.
—Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2025
The fact that there is currently no single alternative to the dollar should be cold comfort at a time when foreign central banks are increasing the share of gold in their reserves to rival the share of U.S. Treasuries, and foreigners are hedging more of their exposure to dollar assets.
—Lael Brainard, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025
Lucretia’s lone, cold comfort is to deny Guiteau his exalted place in history, too, most tangibly by ensuring his book is never published.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
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R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 6 Dec. 2025
Though in geologic time, the advent of the Industrial Revolution is only a hair’s breadth removed from our current moment, that’s cold comfort to people born after 9/11.
—Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2025
The fact that there is currently no single alternative to the dollar should be cold comfort at a time when foreign central banks are increasing the share of gold in their reserves to rival the share of U.S. Treasuries, and foreigners are hedging more of their exposure to dollar assets.
—Lael Brainard, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025
Lucretia’s lone, cold comfort is to deny Guiteau his exalted place in history, too, most tangibly by ensuring his book is never published.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold comfort
Cite this Entry
“Cold comfort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cold%20comfort. Accessed 13 Dec. 2025.
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