Meaning & use
the tip of the iceberg
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Meaning
phraseidiomfigurative
The small part of a bigger problem that you can see, while most of it stays out of sight.
Grammar: A fixed idiom; keep the words in order and use the: this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Patterns
- be just the tip of the iceberg
- only the tip of the iceberg
The complaints we have heard so far are just the tip of the iceberg.
The cracks in the wall may only be the tip of the iceberg, and the whole foundation could be failing.
Those missing documents are the tip of the iceberg in a much larger scandal.
Common combinations
- just the tip of the iceberg
- The first leak was just the tip of the iceberg.
- only the tip of the iceberg
- This list is only the tip of the iceberg.
- seem like the tip of the iceberg
- The incident seems like the tip of the iceberg.
- scratch the surface
- We have barely scratched the surface; this is the tip of the iceberg.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scratching the surface
- Scratching the surface describes how little you have examined or done, while the tip of the iceberg describes how little of a problem is visible.
- small part
- Small part just says it is minor, without the idea that the hidden remainder is large and may be dangerous.
- warning sign
- A warning sign tells you trouble is coming, whereas the tip of the iceberg tells you the trouble is already large.
Word family
Commonly confused: the tip of the iceberg or scratch the surface?
the tip of the iceberg vs scratch the surface
Scratch the surface means to deal with only a small part of a subject; the tip of the iceberg describes how little of a problem is visible.
Practice
The first few errors turned out to be ______ of a much larger problem.
Choose one answer.
The tip of the iceberg means a small visible part of something bigger. The last straw means the final event that makes someone lose patience, which is different.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the tip of the iceberg”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.