cold comfort

Popularized by William Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew, see quotations.

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cold comfort (countable and uncountable, plural cold comforts)

1. (idiomatic) Much less reassurance, consolation, aid, or pleasure than one needs or desires.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 221, column 1:

     […] or ſhall I complaine on thee to our miſtris, whoſe hand / (ſhe being now at hand) thou ſhalt ſoone feele, to thy / cold comfort, for being ſlow in thy hot office.

   • 1863, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 6, in Miles Wallingford‎:

     The table was smoking and hissing; and Romeo Clawbonny, who acted as the everyday house-servant, or footman, had several times intimated that it might be well to commence operations, as a cold breakfast was very cold comfort.

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 9, in At the Earth's Core:

     At least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it.

   • 2010 April 8, Ben Lando, “U.S. Officials Downplay Rash of Baghdad Attacks”, in Time‎:

     But statistics are cold comfort when the latest explosion has leveled a nearby building.

• cold comfort at OneLook Dictionary Search