cold turkey

1 of 2

noun

Synonyms of cold turkey next

: abrupt complete cessation of the use of an addictive drug

also : the symptoms experienced by a person undergoing withdrawal from a drug

: unrelieved blunt language or procedure

: a cold aloof person

cold-turkey

ˈkōld-ˈtər-kē

transitive verb

cold turkey

2 of 2

adverb

: all at once : abruptly: such as

: without a period of gradual adjustment, adaptation, or withdrawal

quit smoking cold turkey

: without preparation

a new player who started the season cold turkey

Examples of cold turkey in a Sentence

Noun I tried lots of ways to stop smoking, even cold turkey. my new boss is a cold turkey and definitely not one for chitchat

Recent Examples on the Web

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Noun

Some people saved their ration, making a small cake once every couple of weeks; others tried various expedients, from substituting carrots and parsnips to just going cold turkey. —

Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024 Quitting hydrocarbons cold turkey would set civilization back hundreds of years. —

Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

Adverb

The girls’ trip turns into a kind of unintended intervention, even a detox, especially once she’s deprived of her phone and forced to go cold turkey. —

Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2022 He’s tried going cold turkey by himself and in clean and sober facilities. —

Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Mar. 2022 See all Example Sentences for cold turkey