in the cold light of day
/ˌɪn ðə ˈkoʊ̯ld ˌlaɪ̯t əv ˈdeɪ̯/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.81 in modern English
36
Scrabble Score
19
Letters
5
Syllables
13
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
Viewed calmly and dispassionately after allowing emotions to cool or after having sobered up.
prep_phrase
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, the, cold, light, of, day; during the day; in daylight.
Example Sentences
- "In the cold light of day, I felt I had overreacted."
- "In my over-wrought state of the night before, it had seemed reasonable enough; but here, in the cold light of day, it seemed preposterous."
- "To the dreamer, a dream can seem at the time eerily indistinguishable from everyday consciousness yet, in retrospect, upon waking, so self-evidently different. The fragmented narrative, the improbability of much of what happens – flying, for example, or the transmogrification of one individual suddenly into another, and so on – seem ludicrous, even embarrassing, in the cold light of day."
- "In the cold light of day, we're a flame in the wind / Not the fire that we've begun."
- "But in the cold light of day, and with the Railways Bill passing through Parliament, it's fair to say that not everyone is happy with what's being offered."
- "And above the crowd of living figures rise colossal forms of armed warriors, and peaceful poets, and sceptred monarchs; these glowing crimson; those standing calm and pale in the cold light of day."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɪn ðə ˈkoʊ̯ld ˌlaɪ̯t əv ˈdeɪ̯/
- British English: /ˌɪn ðə ˈkəʊ̯ld ˌlaɪ̯t əv ˈdeɪ̯/