cold war
Definition
A prolonged period of tense political hostility between states or factions, marked by threats, espionage, and proxy conflicts but stopping short of direct armed confrontation.
Historically, the ideological and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies, from the late 1940s to the early 1990s.
Examples
After forgetting her birthday, he found himself in a cold war with his girlfriend that lasted longer than the actual historical one.
The two startups entered a cold war of passive-aggressive LinkedIn posts, each claiming to have invented remote work first.
My fridge and I are locked in a cold war— it keeps tempting me with leftovers, but I'm holding the line on that salad diet.
Sibling cold wars often erupt over trivial stakes, like who controls the TV remote during commercial breaks.