The key difference between cool and cold is that the adjective cold indicates a lower temperature than the adjective cool. In other words, we usually associate cool with refreshing and comfortable lower temperature and cold with uncomfortably lower temperature.
Cool and cold are two adjectives with similar meanings – both refer to a low temperature. However, as mentioned above, there is a slight difference between cool and cold in terms of meaning and usage. In addition, word cool is also used as an informal word meaning attractive or excellent whereas the word cold can also refer to a personality trait.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Cool
3. What is Cold
4. Similarities Between Cool and Cold
5. Side by Side Comparison – Cool vs Cold in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What Does Cool Mean?
Cool is an adjective with the meaning “of or at a fairly low temperature” or “moderately cold”. It usually means slightly cold in a pleasant, refreshing or soothing way. For example, “it was a lovely cool evening” refers to an evening that is pleasant and refreshing. Let’s now look at some more example sentences to understand the meaning of this word better.
She wore a cool cotton dress.
They served me a long, cool glass of lemon juice.
The water felt deliciously cool on my skin.
He wanted to visit a country with a cool climate.
Adjective cool can also describe a personality trait; it can describe a person who is calm and not worried or frightened – in other words, someone not influenced by a strong feeling of any kind.
As we all know, cool is also an informal word we used to express our approval. In this sense, it means good or excellent.
That was a cool move.
Your shoes won’t look cool with that outfit.
What Does Cold Mean?
Cold is also an adjective that refers to lower temperatures. That is; this adjective usually describes a temperature that is uncomfortably low for humans. Therefore, we can use this adjective to describe freezing weather.
Let’s look at some examples to understand this adjective more clearly.
Her teeth chattered with the cold.
We couldn’t go swimming because the water was too cold.
Weather had been unusually cold that spring.
It’s too cold outside, come inside.
Cold can also refer to the personality trait of being unemotional – lacking affection or warmth. For instance,
His cold stare scared me to death.
We got a cold reception from the elders.
What are the Similarities Between Cool and Cold?
- Cool and cold are two adjectives that describe lower temperatures.
- Also, both can also describe the personality trait of being unemotional.
What is the Difference Between Cool and Cold?
Cool describes a moderate cold temperature whereas cold describes a temperature that is uncomfortably low for humans. The key difference between cool and cold is that cold refers to a lower temperature than cool. In other words, cool is somewhere between warm and cold whereas cold is somewhere between cool and freezing. Another significant difference between cool and cold is that cool usually describes a refreshing and comfortable lower temperature while cold refers to an uncomfortably lower temperature.
The below infographic provides more details on the difference between cool and cold.
Summary – Cool vs Cold
Although both cold and cool describe lower temperatures, cool usually describes a refreshing and comfortable lower temperature while cold refers to an uncomfortably lower temperature. That means; the cold temperatures are somewhat lower than cool temperatures. Thus, this is the difference between cool and cold.
Image Courtesy:
1. “738724” (CCo) via Pxhere
2. “3052624” (CC0) via Pixabay