cold-blooded

/ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd/

//ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd// adj

"cold-blooded" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cold-blooded” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having an unregulated body temperature; ectothermic.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cold-blooded · cold-blooded · English

cold-blooded · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for cold-blooded
PropertyValue
Headwordcold-blooded
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd/
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cold-blooded” in English

cold-bloodedfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cold-blooded is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

cold-blooded has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From cold blood + -ed. The correct English form is cold-blooded, spelled C-O-L-D---B-L-O-O-D-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having an unregulated body temperature; ectothermic.
  2. 2
    Lacking emotion or compunction.
  3. 3
    Of a type of horse: tall and muscular, usually good-natured and suitable for heavy work.
  4. 4
    Of an engine or vehicle: difficult to start; runs poorly until warmed up.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cold-blooded appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. “Dead animals radiate heat,” he said. “When you take one down, you can feel it pouring from the wounds. But not this thing.” / “What does that mean?” she asked. / “Cold-blooded maybe, or colder-blooded than we’re used to.” / “Might explain why the heat sensors have trouble picking them up,” Danielle said.
  2. Here were aſſembled that great philoſopher Mr. Subtile, the coldeſt-blooded metaphyſician of the age.

Etymology

From cold blood + -ed.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cold-blooded"?
"cold-blooded" is spelled C-O-L-D---B-L-O-O-D-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd/.
What does "cold-blooded" mean?
As an adjective, "cold-blooded" means: Having an unregulated body temperature; ectothermic.
How do you pronounce "cold-blooded"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cold-blooded" is /ˈkoʊldˈblʌd.ɪd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cold-blooded"?
From cold blood + -ed. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list