an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"
little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; "archaic forms of life"; "primitive mammals"; "the okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe"
devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain; "a frigid greeting"; "got a frosty reception"; "a frozen look on their faces"; "a glacial handshake"; "icy stare"; "wintry smile"