the tip of the iceberg
/ðə ˌtɪp əv ði ˈaɪsbɜːɡ/NEUTRAL · C2
Meaning
a small visible part of a much larger problem
Examples
- 1These ten complaints are only the tip of the iceberg; most unhappy customers never write to us.
- 2The leaking roof turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg in that old house.
- 3The inspectors found three errors, but they believe that's the tip of the iceberg and hundreds more exist.
- 4Ben's missed payment may be the tip of the iceberg, as his post is full of unpaid bills.
- 5A new survey suggests the reported cases of fraud are only the tip of the iceberg.
Grammar
Keep both articles the and the preposition of. It often follows only or just.
More idioms about problems and trouble
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →be asking for troubleto act in a way that will probably cause problems for youmake a mountain out of a molehillto treat a small difficulty as if it were seriousa storm in a teacupa lot of anger or worry about something unimportantnip something in the budto stop a problem at an early stage before it growsa tough nut to cracka problem or person that is very hard to deal withgo pear-shapedto start to fail and turn out badly
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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