cold read

present singular third person cold reads · participle present cold reading

1. transitiveTo infer characteristics of (a person) using cold reading.

   Select the person you will "cold read" ahead of time if possible. The more time you have to learn about your subject, the better.

   2011, Dean Amory, Mind Reading - A Practical Introduction, page 70

   2 more examples

   A few years ago Mort had barely been able to crawl out of his bottle long enough to cold-read credulous idiots into believing he could speak to their dead loved ones.

   2006, Jim Butcher, Dead Beat, page 127

   Fortune-tellers were derided as swindlers, their so-called services little better than a form of larceny. Incredulous journalists accused clairvoyants of faking their skills by cold-reading customers or surreptitiously monitoring local gossip that would help impress clients

   2015, A Piper, “Women's work: The professionalisation and policing of fortune-telling in Australia”, in Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social History

2. intransitiveTo make inferences about a person using the practice of cold reading.

   In spiritualism research, feedback is often used — this can be interpreted as giving the medium the chance to 'cold read'. However, feedback may be necessary […]

   2004, The Paranormal Review, numbers 29-36, page 30

3. intransitivetransitiveactingTo perform (a script) without preparation.

   At the audition you will be required to cold read a script.

plural cold reads

1. An act of cold reading.

   This is an example of what magicians (and unfortunately phony psychics) call a "cold read".