cold turkey

noun

Definition of cold turkeynext
as in clam
a cold aloof person my new boss is a cold turkey and definitely not one for chitchat

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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
  1. clam
  2. cold fish
  3. stick
  4. iceberg
Noun
  • 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
  • Ragusa is a spiral sea snail, closer to a small murex than a clam, usually simmered in tomato with garlic and chili like most small Adriatic mollusks.
    — Jenn Rice, Forbes.com, 17 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
  • My love for this foundation stick runs deep—but shoppers share my sentiments.
    — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 10 July 2026
  • It’s served in a colorful goblet with a stick of fragrant palo santo, which your server will light to perfume the drink before your first sip.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026
Definition of stick
Noun
  • That disaster appears to be ecological in nature and involves a rapidly melting iceberg, as well as some nuclear waste.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026
  • At one point, Goodman appears to be leading an air strike on an iceberg before suddenly falling asleep.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 July 2026
Definition of iceberg

Browse Nearby Words

cold sweat
cold turkey
cold war
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Cite this Entry

“Cold turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20turkey. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on cold turkey

Nglish: Translation of cold turkey for Spanish Speakers

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