Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cold fish

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.66 in modern English

Syllables: cold -fish
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A heartless individual; a person lacking empathy and emotion.

noun

A sexual partner who, during sex, lacks vigor or emotional reciprocity.

Slang

Example Sentences

"[…]it was thought ſhe was a Woman, and was turn'd into a cold fiſh, for ſhe wold not exchange fleſh with one that lou'd her: […]"
"He wouldn't have thought her such a cold fish. Pity. Still, there was plenty of time. Perhaps when she got used to his company she would thaw a little."
"You're a cold fish. You have no heart."

Etymology

Coined by William Shakespeare in 1611, see quotations.

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

cold fishes (plural)

Synonyms

wet blanket addle-plot buzzkill cold fish curmudgeon dampener downer fun sponge grinch grouch joy killer killjoy

Questions

What does cold fish mean?: A heartless individual; a person lacking empathy and emotion.
Where does cold fish come from?: Coined by William Shakespeare in 1611, see quotations.

How to pronounce cold fish

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cold fish”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cold fish”.
Repeat and practice — Say “cold fish” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.