as in dismissals
treatment that is deliberately unfriendly
at the party the two former friends consciously gave each other the cold shoulder
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in isolates
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely
cold-shouldered by his old friends after his family had lost all of its money
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cold shoulders
Alessandra Schade, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
My first issue, in January, launched Nan Goldin’s campaign against the Sackler family for their role in the opioid epidemic, and this action has inspired cold shoulders from the philanthropic class.
—David Velasco, Harpers Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
Noun
These rules were administered via cold shoulders and whispers.
—Alessandra Schade, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
My first issue, in January, launched Nan Goldin’s campaign against the Sackler family for their role in the opioid epidemic, and this action has inspired cold shoulders from the philanthropic class.
—David Velasco, Harpers Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold shoulders
Noun
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Further dismissals will include 12 members of custodial staff, 16 lunch aides, a warehouseman, a safety and security monitor, a director of communications and a discipline secretary.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
16 Jan. 2026
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Incidentally, both dismissals came in the same match — the 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool on December 20.—
Elias Burke,
New York Times,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Power Without Corruption Mission has used a high-quality and ultra-low-noise toroidal transformer for 778CDT’s internal power architecture, which isolates critical pathways.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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Resentment brews in Agnes while Will isolates himself in London, trying to deal with his loss.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Hemingway rejects the idea that one thing can explain another.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
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Kaiser flatly rejects the notion that the strike is about anything other than reimbursement.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Here are the biggest snubs and surprises.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
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Fortunately, Hollywood is free of ego, leaving us just to rationally contemplate the academy’s choices and examine the snubs and surprises of the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 15.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Counterintuitively, some analysts think that the investigation now makes near-term interest rate cuts less likely, because Powell and the other members of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) will be determined to show the markets that they are guided by the data and not legal threats.—
Jim Edwards,
Fortune,
12 Jan. 2026
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Cutting out any that have negative revenue revisions over the past month cuts that in half again to 100 stocks.—
Michael Khouw,
CNBC,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cold shoulders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20shoulders. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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