Cold vs Indifferent - What's the difference?

In obsolete terms the difference between cold and indifferent

is that cold is not sensitive; not acute while indifferent is to some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

As adjectives the difference between cold and indifferent

is that cold is having a low temperature while indifferent is not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.

As adverbs the difference between cold and indifferent

is that cold is while at low temperature while indifferent is to some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

As a noun cold

is a condition of low temperature.

cold

English

Adjective

(er)

(label) Having a low temperature.

(label) Causing the air to be cold.

(label) Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.

Unfriendly, emotionally distant or unfeeling.

* 2011 April 23, (Doctor Who), series 6, episode 1, (The Impossible Astronaut):

RIVER SONG (upon seeing the still-living DOCTOR, moments after he made her and two other friends watch what they thought was his death): This is cold'. Even by your standards, this is ' cold .

Dispassionate, not prejudiced or partisan, impartial.

Completely unprepared; without introduction.

Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the metaphorical heat associated with life or consciousness.

(label) Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart.

(label) Cornered, done for.

(label) Not pungent or acrid.

* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

cold plants

(label) Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.

* (Ben Jonson) (1572-1637)

What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!

* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)

The jest grows cold when it comes on in a second scene.

Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.

(label) Not sensitive; not acute.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

Smell this business with a sense as cold / As is a dead man's nose.

Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed. Compare warm'' and ''hot .

(label) Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.

Synonyms

* chilled, chilly, freezing, frigid, glacial, icy, cool * (of the weather) (qualifier) brass monkeys, nippy, parky, taters * (of a person or animal) * (unfriendly) aloof, distant, hostile, standoffish, unfriendly, unwelcoming * (unprepared) unprepared, unready * See also

Antonyms

* (having a low temperature) baking, boiling, heated, hot, scorching, searing, torrid, warm * (of the weather) hot (See the corresponding synonyms of (hot).) * (of a person or animal) hot (See the corresponding synonyms of (hot).) * (unfriendly) amiable, friendly, welcoming * (unprepared) prepared, primed, ready

Derived terms

* as cold as charity * as cold as ice, cold as ice * as cold as the grave, cold as the grave * blow hot and cold * brass monkeys * bring someone out in a cold sweat * coldness * cold-blooded * cold call * cold case * cold cash * cold comfort * cold cream * cold cuts * cold-eyed * cold feet/get cold feet * cold fish * cold front * * cold-hearted * cold one * cold-read * cold reading * cold snap * cold start * cold storage * cold store * cold sweat * cold turkey * cold war * cold-weld * come in from the cold * freezing cold * get cold feet * give someone the cold shoulder * in cold blood * in the cold light of day * leave someone cold * leave someone out in the cold * make someone's blood run cold * stone-cold * throw cold water on

Noun

(en noun)

A condition of low temperature.

Come in, out of the cold .

(medicine) A common, usually harmless, viral illness, usually with congestion of the nasal passages and sometimes fever.

I caught a miserable cold and had to stay home for a week.

Synonyms

* (low temperature) coldness * (illness) common cold, coryza, head cold

Derived terms

* bitter cold * brass monkey weather * catch cold * catch one's death of cold * cold sore * cold virus * common cold * head cold

Coordinate terms

* freeze, frost

Adverb

(en adverb)

While at low temperature.

''The steel was processed cold .

Without preparation.

The speaker went in cold and floundered for a topic.

With finality.

I knocked him out cold .

Statistics

Anagrams

* clod

indifferent

English

Adjective

(en adjective)

Not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.

He was indifferent to the proposal, since it didn't affect him, either way.

Mediocre, usually used negatively in modern usage.

The long distance and the indifferent roads made the journey impossible.

The performance of Blue Jays has been '''indifferent'' this season.

* Sir Walter Scott

The staterooms are in indifferent order.

Having no preference or bias, being impartial.

''I am indifferent between the two plans.

* Addison

indifferent in his choice to sleep or die

Not making a difference; without significance or importance.

Even if one appliance consumes an indifferent amount of energy when left on stand-by overnight, together they can represent 10% of the electricity demand of a household.

* Shakespeare

Dangers are to me indifferent .

* Jeremy Taylor

Everything in the world is indifferent but sin.

* Nathaniel Hawthorne

His slightest and most indifferent acts were odious in the clergyman's sight.

(mechanics) Being in the state of neutral equilibrium.

Quotations

* , act 4, scene 1: *: Let their heads be sleekly combed their blue coats brushed and their garters of an indifferent knit

Adverb

(obsolete) To some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very'' and ''not at all ); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

The face of the Moon appearing to me to be full of indifferent high mountains...

Usage notes

* Now obsolete, but very common c. 1600-1730.

References

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