Phrase guide

blow hot and cold

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To behave inconsistently; to vacillate or to waver, as between extremes of opinion or emotion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, intransitive

Examples

  • For a week, she couldn't get enough of me. The next week, her interest blew hot and cold, and a week later she dumped me.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Aesop's fable The Satyr and the Traveller, in which a satyr declares he cannot trust a man who blows hot (to warm his hands) and cold (to cool his food) with the same breath.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: колебая се (kolebaja se) — inconsistent behavior
  • Chinese Mandarin: 朝三暮四 (zhāosānmùsì) — inconsistent behavior
  • Finnish: oikkuilla — inconsistent behavior
  • Finnish: ailahdella — inconsistent behavior
  • French: souffler le chaud et le froid — inconsistent behavior
  • German: einmal hü und einmal hott sagen — inconsistent behavior
  • Icelandic: bera kápuna á báðum öxlum — inconsistent behavior
  • Latin: duabus sellis sedeo — inconsistent behavior
  • Polish: Panu Bogu świeczkę i diabłu ogarek — inconsistent behavior
  • Polish: siedzieć na dwóch stołkach — inconsistent behavior
  • Polish: siedzieć jednym tyłkiem na dwóch stołkach — inconsistent behavior
  • Russian: семь пя́тниц на неде́ле у кого-либо (semʹ pjátnic na nedéle) — inconsistent behavior
  • Spanish: una de cal y otra de arena — inconsistent behavior