Similes for Cold: Weather, Body, Touch and People

On this page13 sections

Quick picker
Similes for cold weather and places
Similes for feeling cold
Similes for things cold to the touch
Similes for looking cold
Similes for cold water, food and drink
From chilly to freezing: grading your simile
Similes for a cold person
Similes linking cold and death
Writing a fresh cold simile
Similes to avoid or use with care
Practice
Quick answers

The classic similes for cold are as cold as ice, as cold as stone, as cold as the grave and as cold as charity, and for a person who feels frozen, shivering like a leaf or frozen like a popsicle (US; ice lolly in the UK). For weather, everyday speakers say it’s like a fridge in here, like the North Pole or like a meat locker; for an unfriendly person, as cold as ice again, or as cold as a fish. Below they are grouped by what is cold (the air, your body, how something looks, or a person’s manner), with notes on which are fresh, which are clichés, and which are better avoided.

A simile compares with “like” or “as”: her hands were like ice. Saying her hands were ice makes it a metaphor. For the full distinction, see the figurative language guide.

Quick picker

You are describing…	Try
Freezing weather	like the Arctic, like a Siberian winter, cold enough to freeze your breath
A cold room or building	like a fridge, like a meat locker, like an icebox, like a tomb
Cold hands or feet	like ice, like blocks of ice, like icicles
Shivering	shaking like a leaf, teeth chattering like castanets
Bitter wind	like knives, like needles on your skin, cut through you like a blade
Something cold to touch	as cold as stone, as cold as steel, cold as a marble floor
An unfriendly person	as cold as ice, as cold as a fish, like a block of ice
Something dead or lifeless	as cold as the grave, cold as a corpse

Similes for cold weather and places

Simile	Example	Notes
as cold as ice	The lake was as cold as ice, even in June.	The default; clear but worn
like the North Pole / like the Arctic	The bus stop was like the Arctic this morning.	Casual exaggeration
like a Siberian winter	The wind off the hills felt like a Siberian winter.	Stronger, more vivid
like a fridge / like a freezer	Turn the heating on; it’s like a fridge in here.	Very common in speech for rooms
like an icebox	The old farmhouse was like an icebox in January.	A little old-fashioned (an icebox was a pre-electric fridge)
like a meat locker	The office air conditioning makes it feel like a meat locker.	Informal, humorous
as cold as a January morning	The church was as cold as a January morning.	Works in the northern hemisphere; swap the month in the south
like stepping into a freezer	Opening the door was like stepping into a freezer.	Good for a sudden change
as cold as a tomb	The stone cellar was as cold as a tomb.	Adds a gloomy, eerie mood

For a single striking line, the specific beats the general. “Like an unheated cabin in January” says more than “like winter”, and “as cold as a steel rail in winter” lets the reader feel the metal. Use one image, not three.

One correction from the old version of this page: “as cold as the dark side of the moon” relies on a myth. The far side of the Moon gets as much sunlight as the near side, and its daytime surface is hot. The coldest places on the Moon are permanently shadowed craters near the poles. If you want a space image, “as cold as deep space” is safer.

Similes for feeling cold

These describe the sensation in the body. They are the most useful group for fiction, because they put the reader inside the character.

Simile	Example
shaking like a leaf	She came in from the storm shaking like a leaf.
teeth chattering like castanets	By the end of the swim, my teeth were chattering like castanets.
hands like ice / like blocks of ice	“Your hands are like ice!” his mother said, rubbing them.
toes like icicles	After an hour on the pitch, my toes felt like icicles.
like needles on my skin	The sleet hit like needles on my skin.
like knives / like a blade	The wind cut through my coat like a blade.
as if my blood had turned to ice water	I stood there as if my blood had turned to ice water.
as if my bones were made of ice	The damp got in until it felt as if my bones were made of ice.
frozen like a popsicle / like an ice lolly	We waited for the taxi until we were frozen like popsicles.
numb as if I’d been at the dentist	My lips were numb, as if I’d just come from the dentist.
like being dropped in ice water	The first breath of the mountain air was like being dropped in ice water.

“As if my blood had turned to ice water” and “a chill ran down my spine” also describe fear, so make sure the context shows which you mean. “Like being hugged by a snowman”, which appeared on the old page, is cute but undercuts a serious scene; save it for children’s writing.

Similes for things cold to the touch

Simile	Example
as cold as stone	The castle steps were as cold as stone, because they were stone.
as cold as steel	The railing was as cold as steel in the frost.
as cold as marble	Her cheek felt as cold as marble against mine.
like a can straight from the fridge	The window glass was like a can straight from the fridge.
as cold as a corpse	The bathwater had gone as cold as a corpse.

“As cold as marble” is a favourite in older fiction for pale, still skin, so it carries a hint of death or statue-like beauty. That makes it powerful, but heavy for a light scene.

Similes for looking cold

Simile	Example
as white as frost	The fields were as white as frost at dawn, and so was his face.
blue like a bruise	Her lips had gone blue like a bruise.
red as a beetroot (from the cold)	The kids came in from sledging as red as beetroots.
breath like smoke / like dragon smoke	Our breath hung in the air like smoke.
stiff as a board	The washing on the line was frozen stiff as a board.
glittering like broken glass	Frost glittered on the windscreen like broken glass.

Similes for cold water, food and drink

Simile	Example	Notes
as cold as a mountain stream	The well water was as cold as a mountain stream.	Fresh and pleasant, not harsh
like swimming in melted snow	The North Sea in April is like swimming in melted snow.	Vivid, slightly comic
cold enough to take your breath away	The plunge pool was cold enough to take your breath away.	Not strictly a simile, but a natural partner
ice-cold (as in “ice-cold lemonade”)	We drank ice-cold lemonade on the porch.	A compound adjective, positive for drinks
as cold as yesterday’s coffee	The soup had gone as cold as yesterday’s coffee.	Disappointing cold, for food that should be hot
like a snowball in your mouth	The sorbet was like a snowball in your mouth.	Playful, good for food writing

Notice how the tone flips with the subject. Cold is good in a drink and bad in a dinner, so “as cold as a mountain stream” praises a glass of water while “as cold as yesterday’s coffee” complains about a meal.

From chilly to freezing: grading your simile

Pick the image to match how cold it really is. Overstating a cool evening with “like the Arctic” works as a joke, but in description it can make a reader stop trusting you.

How cold	Plain words	Matching simile
A little	cool, chilly, nippy (British)	like a cellar, like the shade of an old church
Quite	cold, raw, bitter	like a fridge, like a draughty station platform
Very	freezing, icy, frigid	like a freezer, like a meat locker, cut like a knife
Extreme	arctic, glacial, bone-chilling	like a Siberian winter, as cold as deep space

Similes for a cold person

Cold is one of English’s oldest images for unkindness, distance and lack of feeling.

Simile	Meaning	Example
as cold as ice	unfriendly, without warmth	She was as cold as ice to anyone who disagreed with her.
as cold as a fish	unemotional, hard to connect with	He shook my hand, as cold as a fish, and walked off.
as cold as stone	unmoved, unfeeling	The judge listened, as cold as stone.
as cold as charity	grudging, giving help without kindness	The welcome at the hostel was as cold as charity.
like a block of ice	reserved and distant	On our first date he sat there like a block of ice.
with a heart like ice / a heart of stone	incapable of pity	Only someone with a heart like ice could ignore that letter.

As cold as charity sounds odd at first, since charity should be warm. The phrase criticises charity given coldly, as a duty, with no real kindness behind it. It is an old phrase, and still understood. The related metaphors a cold fish and give someone the cold shoulder are covered in idioms for cold.

Two folk similes you will meet in American speech, “colder than a well digger’s backside” and “colder than a witch’s…” (the original ending is crude), are very informal. They are fine in dialogue for a rough-spoken character, out of place anywhere else. The tidied version on the old page, “as cold as a witch’s heart”, is not a set phrase.

Similes linking cold and death

As cold as the grave: “The house felt as cold as the grave after the funeral.”
As cold as a tomb: “The crypt was as cold as a tomb, which, of course, it was.”
As cold as death: “His hand was as cold as death.”

These are strong and sombre. In a horror story or an elegy they work; to describe a chilly office they sound melodramatic, unless the exaggeration is the joke.

Writing a fresh cold simile

Stock similes (“cold as ice”) are fine in speech but go flat in creative writing. To make your own:

Pick something your character would know. A fishmonger might think of crushed ice on a slab; a child, the inside of the freezer drawer.
Use a sense other than temperature. Sound (frost cracking like knuckles), sight (light as thin and pale as milk), or touch (air that bites like a small dog).
Match the mood. “Cold as a library at closing time” is gentle and lonely; “cold as a scalpel” is clinical and frightening.
Keep it short. “The wind came off the sea like a slap” lands; a three-clause comparison loses the reader.

Some fresher examples: The sea was as cold as a bank manager’s smile. The kitchen tiles were like stepping on a frozen pond. Morning came in grey and thin, like skimmed milk.

Similes to avoid or use with care

“Dropping like a stone” describes something falling fast, such as temperature or prices. It is a simile, but not one for cold itself.
“As cold as liquid nitrogen” / “as cold as dry ice” are technically accurate but sound clinical in most writing. Good for science fiction or a joke.
“As chilly as a penguin’s feet” is invented and not quite right: penguins’ feet are kept just above freezing by their circulation.
“Cold as a morgue” is vivid but grim; fine in crime fiction.

Practice

Match each sentence to the best simile.

The unheated village hall was ______. (like a fridge / as cold as charity)
After falling in the river, the boy was ______. (shaking like a leaf / as cold as a fish)
The landlady’s welcome was ______; she handed over the key without a word. (as cold as charity / like a Siberian winter)
The wind ______ through my thin jacket. (cut like a knife / dropped like a stone)
The crypt was silent and ______. (as cold as the grave / red as a beetroot)
“Your hands are ______!” (like ice / as white as frost)

Now write your own: describe a cold bus shelter in one simile that uses sound rather than temperature. One possible answer: the shelter’s metal roof creaked like a ship frozen in the ice. Another: every gust rattled the glass like teeth. Compare yours with these and check that the image matches the mood of the scene.

Answers

like a fridge
shaking like a leaf
as cold as charity
cut like a knife
as cold as the grave
like ice

Quick answers

What is a good simile for cold?

“As cold as ice” is the most common. For writing, a specific image works better: “the wind cut like a blade” or “the room was like a meat locker”.

What is a simile for a cold person?

“As cold as ice”, “as cold as stone” or “as cold as a fish”.

Is “cold as ice” a simile or a metaphor?

A simile, because it compares with “as”. “She is ice” would be a metaphor.

What is a funny simile for cold?

“It’s like a meat locker in here”, “my toes are like fish fingers straight from the freezer” or “colder than a penguin’s picnic”. Exaggeration is the joke, so the more domestic the image, the better.

What is a simile for cold wind?

“The wind cut like a knife”, “it hit like a slap” or “it went through my coat like it wasn’t there”. Wind similes work best with verbs of cutting, biting and slicing.