How to Use cold shoulder in a Sentence

cold shoulder

noun
  • Then the former blew up and turned a cold shoulder to his mentor.
    — Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
  • Watch the video to see the crabby toddler give her dad an adorable cold shoulder.
    — Sarah Scanlan, USA TODAY, 30 Aug. 2022
  • The cold shoulder and off-the-shoulder styles show no signs of slowing.
    — Faye Wetzel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2017
  • Any world leaders who would seek a bromance with this man may end up with a cold shoulder.
    — Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2022
  • There are screaming matches and cold shoulders.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Samu seems flustered and surprised by the sudden cold shoulder.
    — Olivia Truffaut-Wong, refinery29.com, 22 June 2021
  • This knee-length number features a cold shoulder that gives a chic twist to your usual sweater dress.
    — Kiana Murden, CNN Underscored, 21 Dec. 2020
  • Doing it wisely can also help trees and shrubs give diseases and pests the cold shoulder.
    — Leah Zerbe, Good Housekeeping, 8 Aug. 2018
  • As painful as your colleague’s cold shoulder may be, please remember that a true friend would not treat you this way.
    — Roxane Gay, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2022
  • There’s no comfort in cold comfort, no welcoming from a cold shoulder.
    — Michelle Weber, Longreads, 19 Dec. 2017
  • He was met with a collective cold shoulder and a stern warning not to ship arms to Russia.
    — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Feb. 2023
  • But the internet seems to have already turned a cold shoulder towards the product.
    — Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2025
  • But the bills have gotten a cold shoulder from key committee chairs, who have not given the bills so much as a hearing.
    — Editorial Board, Star Tribune, 9 Apr. 2021
  • For her part, Sturgeon has given her former mentor the cold shoulder.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 5 May 2021
  • Constituencies that seemed tailored to endorse Carter gave him a cold shoulder.
    — Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
  • These rules were administered via cold shoulders and whispers.
    — Alessandra Schade, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Pelosi largely gave Ocasio-Cortez and activists the cold shoulder.
    — David Roberts, Vox, 21 Dec. 2018
  • There have been some exceptions to the American cold shoulder.
    — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2019
  • Thus, the reason why Smith received a cold shoulder before an early exit.
    — J.l. Kirven, Detroit Free Press, 23 June 2019
  • This cold shoulder mini comes in 25 colors, and offers a relaxed fit for easy wearing.
    — Cameron Jenkins, Good Housekeeping, 30 July 2023
  • Early last offseason, Jacobs felt a cold shoulder from the Raiders.
    — Dan Pompei, The Athletic, 29 Aug. 2024
  • The sense of power that new managers gain can offset the cold shoulder from colleagues, a 2015 study says.
    — Sue Shellenbarger, WSJ, 26 Feb. 2019
  • Executives at firms like Microsoft and Meta have turned a cold shoulder in the last week alone.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 17 June 2026
  • He's given most of the players the cold shoulder since Sunday, but there's more tension with Pogba.
    — SI.com, 20 Apr. 2018
  • Despite the brief cold shoulder, the two seem to have no hard feelings as Isan attended the film’s premiere with her father this week.
    — Vulture, 20 Aug. 2022
  • Blue and White, anxious not to anger its Jewish voters, gave Mr Odeh the cold shoulder.
    — The Economist, 5 Sep. 2019
  • And even though this one doesn’t have all the accouterments of newer models, its presence in my life is like a cup of hot cocoa in a world of cold shoulders.
    — Darcel Rockett, chicagotribune.com, 14 Feb. 2018
  • The Proud Boys aren't the only ones feeling the presidential cold shoulder.
    — Barnini Chakraborty, Washington Examiner, 22 Jan. 2021
  • Dershowitz had predicted the cold shoulder from the Martha’s Vineyard crowd might happen.
    — Mark Shanahan, BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2018
  • The cold shoulder continued Tuesday, even as voters went to the polls in Alabama.
    — Tony Cook, Indianapolis Star, 12 Dec. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cold shoulder.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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