cold comfort
noun
slight or negligible comfort; scarce consolation.
Origin of cold comfort
First recorded in 1565–75
Words nearby cold comfort
cold cash,
cold cathode,
cold cellar,
cold chisel,
cold color,
cold comfort,
cold cream,
cold cut,
cold cuts,
cold deck,
cold drink
Idioms and Phrases with cold comfort
cold comfort
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.