What does "cold-shoulder" mean?

To disrespect someone, especially by ignoring them.

What is a synonym for "cold-shoulder"?

Common synonyms include: blink, cut, cut corners, cut someone dead, dodge, fudge.

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To disrespect someone, especially by ignoring them.
"If the peculiar Mr Heaton had first accosted her yesterday instead of six weeks ago, she would have cold-shouldered him without hesitation."
2
pay no attention to, disrespect wordnet

"If the peculiar Mr Heaton had first accosted her yesterday instead of six weeks ago, she would have cold-shouldered him without hesitation."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.