saving grace, a

Idioms  

1. A redeeming quality, especially one compensating for drawbacks or negative characteristics. For example, She may not be too knowledgeable, but her saving grace is that she doesn't pretend to be. This term, dating from the late 1500s, at first referred to the concept of being saved from eternal damnation, and was used more loosely only from the late 1800s on.

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Example Sentences

Now the industry is fixated on a potential saving grace: a long-awaited software upgrade to the most popular cryptocurrency platform, Ethereum, which provides the technological backbone for thousands of crypto projects.

From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2022

West Ham, on the other hand, have looked clueless for sometime, but now have one potential saving grace: a goalscorer.

From The Guardian • Sep. 7, 2017

It was rather mortifying to be considered queer, and that one saving grace, a sense of humor, was entirely lacking in the girl’s make-up.

From The Girl Scouts at Rocky Ledge Nora's Real Vacation by Garis, Lilian