It’s a bit chilly: Talking about Being Cold in English
In this post we’ll learn vocabulary and expressions that you can use to talk about being cold in English. We’ll organize our vocabulary into levels of cold. First, we’ll start with cool, which is just slightly cold. Next, we’ll turn to chilly, which is more noticeably cold. After that we’ll move on to cold. Then, we’ll see expressions related to being freezing. Finally, we’ll end with frigid, which is dangerously cold.
Cool (Slightly Cold)
First, let’s start talking about being cold in English with the word cool. If the temperature is just a little bit cold, you can describe it as cool. Cool is not uncomfortable, and in fact, on a hot summer day, cool is exactly what you want.
- It’s a cool day. The weather is cool. It gets cool at night.
- I need to cool off after my run. I’m going to take a dip in the pool.
- It’s hot in the sun, but it’s nice and cool in the shade.
- Can you open the window? It’s stuffy in here but a breeze will cool it down.
Notice the phrasal verbs cool off and cool down. They both refer to taking away a little bit of heat.
- Blow on your soup to cool it down! It’s too hot to eat.
- It’s a hot day, but it’s nicer here because the sea breeze cools the beach off.
Chilly (Noticeably Cold)
Now, let’s move on to chilly and related words. Chilly is a common way to talk about the cold in English when it’s not very uncomfortable or unpleasant, but definitely noticeable.
- It’s a bit chilly. I’m a bit chilly in here. It’s getting chilly.
- The sun is going down, so it will get chilly soon.
- Can you close the window? It’s starting to feel chilly.
- Bring a sweater to the movies, because it can get chilly in there.
Other words and expressions that mean chilly are:
- There’s a nip in the air on early autumn evenings.
- The sun is still shining, but there’s a nip in the air this morning.
- I need to bring a sweater or a light jacket, it’s a bit nippy outside!
- It’s brisk out. It’s cool and refreshing.
- I love going for a walk when it’s brisk out, because it wakes me up!
- You can see your breath in the air on brisk mornings.
- There’s nothing nicer than the smell of wood smoke on a crisp fall night!
Cold (Uncomfortably Cold)
Now let’s look at ways to describe being uncomfortably, but not dangerously cold in English.
- I’m cold. I feel cold. It’s getting cold. The night is cold.
- Turn up the heat, I’m cold!
- Put on a sweater if you’re cold.
- I feel a cold draft of air. Is a window open in the other room?
- Bundle up in warm clothing before you go out in the cold.
- I’m so cold I’m shivering.
- My hands are shaking from the cold.
- I can’t even text properly, my hands are shaking!
- The air feels colder on damp days.
There are several weather expressions with the word cold.
- A cold front is a mass of cold air moving in to replace warmer air. Cold fronts often bring storms or cooler temperatures.
- A cold snap is short period of sudden and intense cold weather, typically in the winter. Cold snaps usually last a day or a few days.
- A cold spell is also a period of colder than usual weather, but it’s longer than a cold snap. Cold spells can last for several days or weeks. A cold wave is similar to a cold spell.
- A cold blast or a blast of cold air is a sudden rush of very cold air. If you open the door on a winter night, you’ll let a blast of cold air into the house.
Freezing (Very Cold)
Next, let’s look at some vocabulary and expressions for cold in English that you can use when it’s very cold in a very uncomfortable and unpleasant way.
- I’m freezing! It’s freezing outside! It’s freezing cold today!
- Let’s go inside, I’m freezing out here.
- I have goosebumps!
- My teeth are chattering.
- I can’t feel my fingers. My fingers are numb!
- Hurry up! I’m turning into an icicle out here and need to get back inside.
- Your lips are turning blue! You must be absolutely freezing!
- My nose is like ice.
- I should have worn a scarf. The wind is biting today.
The verb freeze is irregular in English: freeze, freezing, froze, frozen.
- Water freezes at 32F or 0C.
- Be careful on the roads, because we’re going to have freezing rain later.
- We froze on our camping trip because it was much colder than we expected.
- The lake hasn’t frozen solid yet, so don’t go ice skating on it.
Frigid (Extremely Cold, Dangerously Cold)
Finally, let’s look at vocabulary and expressions that you can use to talk about being so cold that it’s extremely uncomfortable or even dangerous. First, here are some playful and exaggerating expressions that you can use to say that you’re very cold.
- It’s frigid outside today!
- Hurry up and start the car. I’m dying of cold!
- Your hands are as cold as ice! Put some gloves on!
- I’m chilled to the bone because it’s so freezing.
- I’m freezing my butt off! (I’m freezing my *ass/*balls off!)
- It’s like an icebox in here!
- Why is the air conditioning so high? It feels like Antarctica/feels like the North Pole in this room!
- If it gets any colder, I’ll turn into a popsicle.
Being cold is not always a joke. Here are some expressions to use when cold is actually physically dangerous.
- I wasn’t wearing gloves, so I got chilblains on my hands and wrists.
- The hikers all got frostbite because of exposure to extreme cold.
- People can die of exposure if they’re outside in such frigid temperatures.
- A man fell through the ice on the lake and died of hypothermia.
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