cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed ˈkōl(d)-ˈblə-dəd 

1

a

: done or acting without consideration, compunction, or clemency

cold-blooded murder

b

: matter-of-fact, emotionless

a cold-blooded assessment

2

: having cold blood

specifically : having a body temperature not internally regulated but approximating that of the environment

3

or coldblood

ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd 

: of mixed or inferior breeding

4

: noticeably sensitive to cold

cold-bloodedly adverb

cold-bloodedness noun

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-boiled
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• inhumane
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stony
• stoney
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unfeeling
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of cold-blooded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Being cold-blooded, the chilly depths cause their cells to slow down, resulting in slower growth but also less wear and tear over time. —Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024

How a ‘cold-blooded killer’ called Smiley, who haunted L.A. for 14 years, finally faced justice. ‘Help me, help me’: A Metro bus driver is stabbed, reviving fears about safety. —Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024

Even a cold-blooded cost-benefit analysis justifies an investment, once again, of American blood, treasure, and leadership attention. —Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024

The result at times carries the whiff of something simultaneously refreshing and nostalgic: less a vacation project and closer to an imagined hybrid of Dostoevsky, Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol, in which an inconvenient romantic spark leads to cold-blooded problem-solving. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Based on the John le Carré novel, Martin Ritt’s bleak spy thriller also features George Smiley (see No. 3 on this list), although the spymaster’s machinations here better exemplify just how cold-blooded someone in his position must be. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024

The criminals were cold-blooded and purposefully going to kill, shoot our citizens at point-blank range — our children. —Brie Stimson, Fox News, 24 Mar. 2024

The Ice Age made the islands inhospitable to reptiles, whose cold-blooded bodies need heat from the surroundings to function. —Sarah Fecht, Popular Science, 14 Mar. 2024

The study, published in March 1935, also included observations of mammals, birds and cold-blooded vertebrates. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed

ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd-əd

1

: lacking or showing a lack of natural human feelings

a cold-blooded criminal

2

: having a body temperature not regulated by the body and close to that of the environment

3

: sensitive to cold

cold-bloodedly adverb

Medical Definition

cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd-əd 

: having a body temperature not internally regulated but approximating that of the environment : poikilothermic

cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles

cold-bloodedness noun