cold-blooded

[ kohld-bluhd-id ]

adjective

1. designating or pertaining to animals, as fishes and reptiles, whose blood temperature ranges from the freezing point upward, in accordance with the temperature of the surrounding medium; poikilothermic.
2. without emotion or feeling; dispassionate; cruel:

   a cold-blooded murder.

3. sensitive to cold.

cold-blooded

adjective

1. having or showing a lack of feeling or pity

   a cold-blooded killing

2. informal.
   particularly sensitive to cold
3. (of all animals except birds and mammals) having a body temperature that varies with that of the surroundings Technical termpoikilothermic

cold-blooded

/ kōld′blŭd′ĭd /

1. Having a body temperature that changes according to the temperature of the surroundings. Fish, amphibians, and reptiles are cold-blooded.

Derived Forms

• ˌcold-ˈbloodedly, adverb
• ˌcold-ˈbloodedness, noun

Other Words From

• cold-blooded·ly adverb
• cold-blooded·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cold-blooded¹

First recorded in 1585–95

Related Words

• barbarous
• brutal
• callous
• hardened
• inhuman
• merciless
• ruthless