Meanings
- idiomaticIn a ruthless and unfeeling manner, particularly as applied to first-degree murder committed without provocation and with malice aforethought.
It was not a suicide! He was murdered in cold blood.
1 more example
Police have arrested a suspect in the murder-robbery of a gold shop in Lop Buri two weeks ago, in which a young child and two adults were killed in cold blood.
2020 January 22, “Suspect in Lop Buri gold robbery-murders arrested”, in Bangkok Post, Bangkok: Bangkok Post Public Company Limited, retrieved 22 Jan 2020
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbemotionlessly and heartlessly; with deliberate cruelty or callousness
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From a specialized meaning of cold, referring to lack of empathy.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بِدَم بَارِد
- بِدَم بَارِد (bi-dam bārid)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Bulgarian хладнокръ́вно
- хладнокръ́вно (hladnokrắvno)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Catalan a sang freda
- a sang fredain a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Chinese Mandarin 冷血地
- 冷血地 (lěngxuè de)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Czech chladnokrevně
- chladnokrevněin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Danish med koldt blod
- med koldt blodin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Dutch in koelen bloede, koudbloedig
- in koelen bloedein a ruthless and unfeeling manner
- koudbloedigin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Esperanto malvarmsange
- malvarmsangein a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Finnish kylmäverisesti, julmasti
- kylmäverisestiin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
- julmastiin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
French de sang froid
- de sang froidin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
German kaltblütig
- kaltblütigin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Greek εν ψυχρώ
- εν ψυχρώ (en psychró)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Hungarian hidegvérrel
- hidegvérrelin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Icelandic með köldu blóði
- með köldu blóðiin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Indonesian berdarah dingin
- berdarah dinginin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Italian a sangue freddo
- a sangue freddoin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Japanese 冷酷に
- 冷酷に (reikoku ni)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Korean 냉혈의, 랭혈의
- 냉혈의 (naenghyeor-ui)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
- 랭혈의 (raenghyeor-ui)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Norwegian Bokmål med kaldt blod
- med kaldt blodin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Polish z zimną krwią
- z zimną krwiąin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Portuguese a sangue frio
- a sangue frioin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Romanian cu sânge rece
- cu sânge recein a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Russian хладнокро́вно
- хладнокро́вно (xladnokróvno)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Slovak chladnokrvne
- chladnokrvnein a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Spanish a sangre fría
- a sangre fríain a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Swahili kwa damu baridi
- kwa damu baridiin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Swedish kallblodigt, med berått mod
- kallblodigtin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
- med berått modin a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Ukrainian холоднокро́вно
- холоднокро́вно (xolodnokróvno)in a ruthless and unfeeling manner
Cite this entry
in cold blood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20cold%20blood
“in cold blood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20cold%20blood. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in cold blood,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20cold%20blood.
Source: in cold blood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.