Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

give someone the cold shoulder

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.34 in modern English

Syllables: give -some-one the -cold shoul-der
IPA

42

Scrabble Score

26

Letters

5

Syllables

15

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To snub, resist or reject somebody; to regard somebody distantly.

Example Sentences

"I must have made him angry with my comment. He’s been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I said it."
"The Pope had given him the cold shoulder, but since he had not prospered as a diplomatist, he had sought compensation as a man of the world, and his great flamboyant curricle and negro lackeys were for several weeks one of the striking ornaments of the Pincian."
"“What will they do to me?” “They will give you the cold shoulder. Do you know what that means?” Daisy was looking at him intently; she began to color."

Etymology

First recorded use of the expression was in 1816 by Sir Walter Scott in Scots (“The Countess’s dislike didna gang farther at first than just showing o’ the cauld shouther”.)

Inflected Forms

gives someone the cold shoulder (present, singular) giving someone the cold shoulder (participle, present) gave someone the cold shoulder (past) given someone the cold shoulder (participle, past) turn the cold shoulder on someone (alternative) turn a cold shoulder on someone (alternative)

Questions

What does give someone the cold shoulder mean?: To snub, resist or reject somebody; to regard somebody distantly.
Where does give someone the cold shoulder come from?: First recorded use of the expression was in 1816 by Sir Walter Scott in Scots (“The Countess’s dislike didna gang farther at first than just showing o’ the cauld shouther”.)

How to pronounce give someone the cold shoulder

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