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cold fish

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cold fish

Someone who shows no emotion and comes across as unfriendly or disinterested. The manager decided not to hire Bill as the store greeter because he came across like a cold fish during the interview.

See also: cold, fish

*cold fish

Fig. a person who is distant and unfeeling. (*Typically: act like ~; be ~.) Bob is so dull—a real cold fish. She hardly ever speaks to anyone. She's a cold fish.

See also: cold, fish

cold fish

A hard-hearted, unfeeling individual, one who shows no emotion, as in Not even the eulogy moved him; he's a real cold fish. This expression was used by Shakespeare in The Winter's Tale (4:4): "It was thought she was a woman, and was turn'd into a cold fish." However, it came into wider use only in the first half of the 1900s.

See also: cold, fish

cold fish

n. a dull and unresponsive person. I hate to shake hands with a cold fish like that. He didn’t even smile.

See also: cold, fish