cold comfort

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n.
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).


Slight 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.

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Cold Comfort (1990 Thriller Film)
Waters, R. (Quotes By)
Cold Comfort Farm (TV Episode) (1971 TV Episode)
Comfort Letter (in banking)