| 释义 |
cold comfort
cold comfortn. Extremely limited empathy, sympathy, or encouragement: "I told him that the years would pass with remarkable celerity, but that appeared to be cold comfort" (Nelson Bryant).cold′ com′fort
n. negligible comfort or consolation. [1565–75] Thesaurus| Noun | 1. | cold comfort - very limited consolation or empathy; "he told me that time heals all wounds but that was cold comfort to me"consolation, solace, solacement - the comfort you feel when consoled in times of disappointment; "second place was no consolation to him" |
cold comfort
cold comfortSomething that has failed as an intended source of solace. The news that I got a meager raise is cold comfort after not getting that big promotion. The fact that it's "stage one" is cold comfort to me—it's still cancer!See also: cold, comfortcold comfortno comfort or consolation at all. She knows there are others worse off than her, but that's cold comfort. It was cold comfort to the student that others had failed as he had done.See also: cold, comfortcold comfortSlight or no consolation. For example, He can't lend us his canoe but will tell us where to rent one-that's cold comfort. The adjective cold was being applied to comfort in this sense by the early 1300s, and Shakespeare used the idiom numerous times. See also: cold, comfortcold comfort COMMON If a fact or statement is cold comfort to someone in a difficult situation, it does not make them feel less worried or sad. `Three years in higher education is a good investment for the future,' he says. But that is cold comfort to graduates who have worked so hard to get a degree, and now find themselves unemployed.See also: cold, comfortcold comfort poor or inadequate consolation. This expression, together with the previous idiom, reflects a traditional view that charity is often given in a perfunctory or uncaring way. The words cold (as the opposite of ‘encouraging’) and comfort have been associated since the early 14th century, but perhaps the phrase is most memorably linked for modern readers with the title of Stella Gibbons 's 1933 parody of sentimental novels of rural life, Cold Comfort Farm.See also: cold, comfortˌcold ˈcomfort a thing that is intended to make you feel better but which does not: When you’ve just had your car stolen, it’s cold comfort to be told it happens to somebody every day.See also: cold, comfortcold comfortThat’s little or no consolation. “Colde watz his cumfort,” reads a poem of unknown authorship written about 1325. The alliterative phrase appealed to Shakespeare, who used it a number of times (in King John, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew). It acquired cliché status by about 1800. Stella Gibbons used it in the title of her humorous book Cold Comfort Farm (1932).See also: cold, comfortcold comfortOffering limited sympathy or encouragement. People who lost their jobs during the recession would likely take cold comfort from economic reports that an upturn was likely to occur in the future. Shakespeare used the phrase in King John: “I do not ask you much, I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait / And so ingrateful, you deny me that.”See also: cold, comfortcold comfort
Words related to cold comfortnoun very limited consolation or empathyRelated Words- consolation
- solace
- solacement
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