Meaning & use

flip side

noun·Everyday

The other, often less appealing, side or aspect of a situation.

See it in a sentence

Working from home is convenient, but the flip side is feeling isolated from colleagues.

Winning the lottery sounds wonderful, but there's a flip side of sudden unwanted attention.

A note on using this word

Flip side is informal and almost always used with 'the', as in 'the flip side of' something.

Words with a similar meaning

other sidedownside

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

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