cold feet

noun

Definition of cold feetnext
as in uncertainty

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cold feet The paper added police were investigating whether the suspect got cold feet or whether making such a call was part of the plan. — Kara Fox, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026 A couple days ago a THR report claimed that Universal was getting cold feet over releasing Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary in international territories. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2026 As for whether Smirnoff-Skyy's flair might give some buyers cold feet, listing agent Adelaida Mejia of Vanguard Properties isn't losing any sleep over it. — Itay Hod, CBS News, 9 June 2026 Advertisers began to get cold feet about the vigilante-like tactics used to investigate alleged predators. — Toni Fitzgerald, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026 Or, sometimes the non-comics get cold feet on a certain joke. — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 12 May 2026 The $10 billion that Cursor keeps even if the deal doesn’t happen looks, to my traditional M&A reporter brain, like the largest breakup fee on record (a smart move, given Musk’s penchant for getting cold feet). — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 23 Apr. 2026 But Borgli isn’t just delivering a biting satire on the ultimate case of cold feet. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 3 Apr. 2026 Did OpenAI’s discontinuation of Sora force Disney out of the deal, or did Disney get cold feet first? — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold feet
  1. uncertainty
  2. doubt
  3. suspense
  4. dread
  5. angst
  6. torment
  7. foreboding
  8. upset
Noun
  • The uncertainty lay in how to care for themselves, honor that history and make space for a future.
    — Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Josemar Lauriano Pereira, a 46-year-old lawyer, said that the rapid availability of results helped combat fraud and uncertainty.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of uncertainty
Noun
  • In the lead-up to the 2022 vote, Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly cast unfounded doubts on Brazil's electronic voting system.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The suspects are innocent unless proven guilty by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of doubt
Noun
  • In fiction, spoiler alerts exist to protect the reader experience, premised on the idea that knowing a story’s outcome will reduce momentum and suspense.
    — Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • We’re not immersed in any of the procedural’s dangers, its uncertainties, its suspense, its psychic toll.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of suspense
Noun
  • Artificial is pointedly funnier than his other work, including a large comedic performance by Ike Barinholtz as Musk, even as an existential dread permeates.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Audiences can expect natural richness, such as underwater images of glistening shellfish, to encounter ecological dread.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of dread
Noun
  • Trump’s laudatory comments come as bipartisan angst over the technology crests, alarming AI incidents proliferate, and global governments call for policy cooperation.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Bhayshul Tuten scored on the next play, which surely will cause angst in the fantasy football world.
    — Mark Long, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of angst
Noun
  • But sequences in the film that show his inner torment serve an important purpose, says Primetime editor Daniel Garber.
    — Samantha Bergeson, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
  • His wife later told the priest that her husband had felt relief for a few days, but that the real cause of his torment had probably been a brain tumor.
    — David Owen, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of torment
Noun
  • Like MBD_Trans Am, the video has a foreboding din for its score, except that in this case the horror is even more explicit.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • And here’s where all the flash-forward business this season finally comes into thematic focus, imbuing the scene with an Old-Testament style foreboding.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of foreboding
Noun
  • Bronny played regularly down the stretch last season and into the playoffs while Doncic and Reaves were sidelined by injury, teaming up with his father for significant minutes in the Lakers' first-round upset of the Houston Rockets.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Doug Jones is seeking a historic comeback in Alabama, while Democrats in Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina are pursuing statewide wins and Senate upsets.
    — Kim Chandler, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of upset

Browse Nearby Words

cold-eyed
cold feet
cold fish
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Cite this Entry

“Cold feet.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20feet. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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