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Synonyms

fly in the ointment

Cultural  

  1. A drawback, especially one that was not at first apparent: “Sharon's lack of experience turned out to be the fly in the ointment when she applied for the job.”

fly in the ointment Idioms  

  1. A drawback or detrimental factor. For example, The new library is wonderful but there's a fly in the ointment: their catalog isn't complete yet. This term probably alludes to a biblical proverb (Ecclesiastes 10:1): “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour.” [c. 1600]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The only fly in the ointment might be what executives say about the rest of this year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

But there is still one fly in the ointment: researchers have not yet succeeded in reproducing all the crucial details of the observations in model calculations.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2024

“The goat is like a fly in the ointment of perfection,” Freeman says.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2023

“The fly in the ointment is Feinstein,” said Steve Smith, deputy director of public affairs at the AFL-CIO.

From Slate • May 3, 2023

The fly in the ointment was that there was too much work for Jet and not enough for me.

From "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.