coldly

cold·ly
C3O1L1D2L1Y4
UK/ˈkəʊldli/US/ˈkoʊldli/

adverb

In a cold or uncaring manner; indifferently.

Meanings

adverbcoldly (comparative more coldly, superlative most coldly)

comparative more coldly · superlative most coldly

  1. In a cold or uncaring manner; indifferently.

    'He is a mighty handsome man!' 'I don't think so,' said Tess coldly.

    1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 82
    2 more examples

    Fritz Lang in Hollywood has remade the French "La Bête Humaine" story, setting the drama, a little coldly, among the great hooting diesels of the Middle West routes, […].

    1958 February 28, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 90

    Prosecutors argued in opening statements that Clancy had “coldly and efficiently executed” her children, doing so with “no hesitation, with deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty” after she “drew her husband out of the house, their father, so that she had the opportunity and the time to carry out these murders”.

    2026 September 4, Edward Helmore, Maya Yang, “Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocked again”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2026

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Old Norsekaldliga“coldly”
  2. Middle Englishcoldliche
  3. Englishcoldly

From Middle English coldliche, caldeliche, perhaps borrowed from Old Norse kaldliga (“coldly”); equivalent to cold + -ly. Displaced Middle English colde (“coldly”), from Old English cealde (“coldly”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan fredament
  • fredamentin a cold or uncaring manner
Esperanto malvarme
  • malvarmein a cold or uncaring manner
Finnish kylmästi
  • kylmästiin a cold or uncaring manner
French froidement
  • froidementin a cold or uncaring manner
Hungarian hidegen
  • hidegenin a cold or uncaring manner
Norwegian Bokmål kaldt
  • kaldtin a cold or uncaring manner
Polish ozięble, oschle
  • ozięblein a cold or uncaring manner
  • oschlein a cold or uncaring manner
Portuguese friamente
  • friamentein a cold or uncaring manner
Spanish fríamente
  • fríamentein a cold or uncaring manner
Cite this entry
APA

coldly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldly

MLA

“coldly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coldly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldly.

Source: coldly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.