cold-shouldering

verb

present participle of cold-shoulder
as in isolating
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely cold-shouldered by his old friends after his family had lost all of its money

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold-shouldering
  1. isolating
  2. rejecting
  3. snubbing
  4. repulsing
  5. cutting
  6. slighting
  7. stiff-arming
  8. repelling
Verb
  • The agency would also create standards covering sandbox testing environments; air gaps, or isolating testing environments from the internet; kill switches; and controls that prevent models from escaping lab settings and roaming on the Internet.
    — Garrett Downs, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026
  • But the Israeli military’s approach could only work after systematically isolating the Palestinian people over the course of decades.
    — Drew Paul, The Conversation, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of isolating
Verb
  • The former special counsel also cited former Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to go along with a plan to overturn the results of the 2020 election by rejecting the electoral votes of battleground states that Biden won.
    — Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Throughout this same time, Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse also continued to wear the Air Force 1 High sneakers while playing in the NBA — rejecting modern technology in favor for in-game footwear that was already two decades old.
    — Olivia Cigliano, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • However, when one of the three women feels guilty about snubbing their lifelong pal, Mel shows up and suddenly the weekend turns to complete chaos, tempting the trio to break free from the madness that has hobbled their friend group for years.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Yet no one hauled him before Congress to answer for stoking racial tensions, snubbing George Washington, or making America sad on her birthday.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of snubbing
Verb
  • While there are dismemberments and other bits of gruesome violence to be found in the film, Badlands is largely aimed at endearing its audience rather than repulsing them.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Definition of repulsing
Verb
  • This change is apparent in the fact that European governments, too, are cutting funding for religious freedom advocacy.
    — Matthew Schmitz, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
  • In a sign of growing staff unrest over the steady stream of cost-cutting announcements across the BBC, some workers made their feelings known on a Microsoft Teams call earlier this week.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • Yet what follows is an extended list of ethical sins, with a focus on the sins of abusive speech, such as slandering, slurring, slighting and smearing the reputations of others.
    — Reuven Kimelman, The Conversation, 18 Sep. 2026
  • But in discharging this function, poets are in danger of slighting another imperative, namely, to redress poetry as poetry, to set it up as its own category, an eminence established and a pressure exercised by distinctly linguistic means.
    — Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Definition of slighting
Verb
  • The next game, stiff-arming guys.
    — Sean Joseph OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 May 2026
  • After stiff-arming challengers on the front 9, Cink played free and easy.
    — Jay Paris, Oc Register, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of stiff-arming
Verb
  • The running back, 25, had a career night in his first game with the Chiefs, tallying 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, seemingly repelling opponents which resulted in multiple Broncos missed tackles.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
  • This includes rain-repelling treatments like Rain X, adds Musson.
    — Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of repelling
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.

Browse Nearby Words

cold-shouldered
cold-shouldering
cold shoulders
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Cite this Entry

“Cold-shouldering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold-shouldering. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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