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
  • Top 5 Can’t Miss Order a bowl of Pismo clam chowder and a plate of homemade pasta at Giuseppe’s Cucina Rustica.
    — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2026
  • To avoid getting Vibrio vulnificus, the health department suggests avoiding raw oysters or other raw shellfish and cooking shellfish like oysters, clams, mussels thoroughly before ingesting them.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 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
  • The herder cared for Pantoja, keeping him warm with animal skins, teaching him to milk the goats, and how to hunt rabbits with a stick.
    — Laura Sharman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
  • In the shade of a dense forest canopy, Odette Kouakou paces through her grove of cocoa trees, snapping off dead leaves and poking the ripe yellow pods hanging down from the branches with a stick.
    — Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of stick
Noun
  • The Titanic sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean on April 14, 1912, after hitting an iceberg, taking with it approximately 1,500 passengers and crew members.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • On a molecular level As an example of the distinction between energy and temperature, compare a cup of hot tea and an iceberg.
    — Matthew Koss, The Conversation, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of iceberg

Browse Nearby Words

cold sweat
cold turkey
cold war
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cold turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20turkey. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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