cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed ˈkōl(d)-ˈblə-dəd 

1

a

: done or acting without consideration, compunction, or clemency

cold-blooded murder

b

: matter-of-fact, emotionless

a cold-blooded assessment

2

: having cold blood

specifically : having a body temperature not internally regulated but approximating that of the environment

3

or coldblood

ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd 

: of mixed or inferior breeding

4

: noticeably sensitive to cold

cold-bloodedly adverb

cold-bloodedness noun

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-boiled
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• inhumane
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stony
• stoney
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unfeeling
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of cold-blooded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The result at times carries the whiff of something simultaneously refreshing and nostalgic: less a vacation project and closer to an imagined hybrid of Dostoevsky, Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol, in which an inconvenient romantic spark leads to cold-blooded problem-solving. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Based on the John le Carré novel, Martin Ritt’s bleak spy thriller also features George Smiley (see No. 3 on this list), although the spymaster’s machinations here better exemplify just how cold-blooded someone in his position must be. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024

The criminals were cold-blooded and purposefully going to kill, shoot our citizens at point-blank range — our children. —Brie Stimson, Fox News, 24 Mar. 2024

The Ice Age made the islands inhospitable to reptiles, whose cold-blooded bodies need heat from the surroundings to function. —Sarah Fecht, Popular Science, 14 Mar. 2024

The study, published in March 1935, also included observations of mammals, birds and cold-blooded vertebrates. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024

Fish Fast Bass are cold-blooded, meaning their body temperatures and metabolisms are regulated by the water temps around them. —Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 6 Mar. 2024

For the left, Kissinger personified a cold-blooded realpolitik that subordinated human rights in the Third World to containment. —Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

Because fish are cold-blooded and don’t live on land, they’re not considered meat. —Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed

ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd-əd

1

: lacking or showing a lack of natural human feelings

a cold-blooded criminal

2

: having a body temperature not regulated by the body and close to that of the environment

3

: sensitive to cold

cold-bloodedly adverb

Medical Definition

cold-blooded

adjective

cold-blood·​ed ˈkōl(d)-ˈbləd-əd 

: having a body temperature not internally regulated but approximating that of the environment : poikilothermic

cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles

cold-bloodedness noun