COLD TURKEY Synonyms: 14 Similar and Opposite Words

cold turkey

noun

Definition of cold turkey

as in clam

a cold aloof person my new boss is a cold turkey and definitely not one for chitchat

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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 turkey Even if head coach Mike Elko and his staff stopped recruiting cold turkey today and didn't pick up their phones until after signing day, this class would already be in some rarefied air. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026 The step-by-step approach matters because going cold turkey rarely sticks. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 May 2026 The food menu has salads and breakfast sandwiches, paninis and burritos ($11-$15), as well as a lone cold turkey club. — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 13 May 2026 For advertisers, going cold turkey on clicks means shifting strategy from traffic quantity to conversion quality. — Ivan Doruda, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cold turkey

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold turkey

Noun

Finally, shellfish like clams and mussels are affected by leukemia-like cancers that transmit through seawater.

— John Drake, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
For more than two decades, the duo hauled in more than 4 pounds of clams each morning from the lagoon in the Po River Delta — upending the notion that women were unsuited for such a rigorous job.

— Kasha Patel, CNN Money, 18 July 2026

Definition of clam

Noun

That impulse extends to dealing with occasional rude customers at her day gig, where the coworkers are nice but the boss, family-business heir Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz), is one nasty cold fish.

— Dennis Harvey, Variety, 27 Nov. 2025
Lancelot, still the Round Table’s greatest hero, is a bit of a cold fish with an unexpected role to play as the saga winds to its close.

— Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 16 July 2024

Definition of cold fish

Noun

But unlike Washington’s courses, China’s are bundled with cameras, platforms, and judicial exchanges that make the rest of its architecture stick.

— Natalia Cote-Muñoz, Foreign Affairs, 3 Aug. 2026
In separate large bowl of electric mixer beat together softened butter (1 stick) and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

— Cathy Thomas, Oc Register, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of stick

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cold sweat

cold turkey

cold war

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“Cold turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20turkey. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of cold turkey

noun

Example Sentences

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