tip of the iceberg

Cultural  

1. Only a hint or suggestion of a much larger or more complex issue or problem: “The money missing from petty cash was only the tip of the iceberg of financial mismanagement.” This phrase alludes to the fact that the bulk of a floating iceberg is concealed beneath the water, leaving only a small portion, its tip, visible above.

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tip of the iceberg Idioms  

1. Superficial evidence of a much larger problem, as in Laying off a hundred workers is only the tip of the iceberg. This idiom alludes to the structure of an iceberg, most of whose bulk lies underwater. [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

It overwhelmed me to think about all the possibilities of our world only being like the tip of the iceberg and all of creation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

"Today's figures are just the tip of the iceberg," Vicky Cann of Corporate Europe Observatory said, adding: "This takes place in the midst of the biggest deregulation wave ever seen in the EU."

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

According to several former and current Wall Streeters, that rule is just the tip of the iceberg.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Chief executive Rachel Jones says energy debt is the main issue people contact them about but it is often the tip of the iceberg.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

It can be the tiny tip of the iceberg or the whole hundred per cent.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

Related Words

• cursory
• frivolous
• one-dimensional
• perfunctory
• silly
• sketchy
• slight
• trivial