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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cold turkey
Hetman testified in direct examination Monday that her son had a Percocet addiction in 2013 and had quit cold turkey.
—
Sam Blum, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
If going off Wi-Fi cold turkey seems too extreme, Aguiar suggested giving kids a bit of time on devices as needed before taking them to do something else.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But unlike nicotine or narcotics, food is something that all people need to survive, so quitting cold turkey isn’t an option.
—Claire Wilcox, The Conversation, 10 Oct. 2025
Don’t quit everything you are involved with cold turkey.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold turkey
Sam Blum, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
If going off Wi-Fi cold turkey seems too extreme, Aguiar suggested giving kids a bit of time on devices as needed before taking them to do something else.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But unlike nicotine or narcotics, food is something that all people need to survive, so quitting cold turkey isn’t an option.
—Claire Wilcox, The Conversation, 10 Oct. 2025
Don’t quit everything you are involved with cold turkey.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold turkey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold turkey
Noun
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Having mesh wire baskets on the table to help fish out ingredients from the broth that may be hard to handle with chopsticks, like a clam or a fish ball, can be helpful.—
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner,
Martha Stewart,
20 Feb. 2026
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Spooned over the top is a clam and cream sauce with bits of crispy guanciale strewn throughout for an unctuous, salty backbone.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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With pressure levels reaching a breaking point, the 29-year-old stepped up and, with one incredible deke and one backhanded flick of her stick, wrote a chapter in this rivalry’s history that will be remembered for quite some time.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
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Harvey, a strong skater with tremendous stick skills and vision as a defensewoman, has been getting praise from the men’s hockey team, including Matthew Tkachuk.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The nearby Sermeq Kujalleq glacier is one of the fastest-moving and most active on the planet, sending more icebergs into the sea than any other glacier outside Antarctica, according to the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2026
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That’s just the tip of the political iceberg.—
Bradley Tusk,
New York Daily News,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cold turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20turkey. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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