fire and ice
Heat and cold
Fire and ice names a contrast between opposite forces or temperaments—passionate intensity versus cold detachment, burning desire versus frigid indifference.
The phrase gained currency from Robert Frost's 1920 poem weighing whether the world will end in one or the other.
It appears in titles, descriptions of relationships, and discussions of opposing elements: Their marriage was fire and ice.
- sparkTiny fiery particle
- emberGlowing coal fragment
- frostThin ice coating
- flameBurning gas made visible
- blazeIntense burning fire
burning desire · coldness · poles apart · duality · opposites attract · passion · incompatibility · conflict · clash of titans · balance · elemental forces · divergence · antithesis · burn · glow · paradox · hot and cold · Ragnarok
- temperature idiomscold shoulder, hot head, in hot water, cold feet, hot under the collar
- love metaphorsCupid, butterflies, lovesick, swept off feet, soulmate
- oppositesopposite, opposites, antonym, antonyms, inverse
- fire idiomsfan the flames, spread like wildfire, go up in flames, go up in smoke, up in smoke
- Famous Poetrynevermore, to be or not to be, road not taken, jabberwocky, daffodils
- zoanthidszoanthid
fire and icelukewarm
Mildly warm temperature
room temperature · tepid · mediocrity · middle ground · blandness
fire and iceeven-keeled
Emotionally balanced, consistent
placid · unflappable · equanimity · stable temperament · dispassion
fire, ice, freeze, freezing, fires, fireplace, freezer, icicle, ignition