drop in the bucket

Idioms  

1. A very small quantity, especially one that is too small. For example, These contributions are just a drop in the bucket; the new church wing will cost thousands more. John Wycliffe's followers used this seemingly modern phrase in their translation of the Bible (1382), and it also appears in the 1611 King James version (Isaiah 40:15): “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.”

---

Example Sentences

When the first tranche of files was made public, he said they represented a "drop in the bucket" compared to what was to come.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

The problem with this way of thinking is that each of us contributes an infinitesimally small drop in the bucket of global greenhouse gases.

From Slate • May 15, 2026

Any crypto losses would be a drop in the bucket for Harvard’s massive $57 billion endowment, the biggest of any U.S. school.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025

Yes, it’s a drop in the bucket compared with Harvard’s gigantic $57 billion endowment.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025

Gran had left such a big hole in our lives to fill that I wondered if I could even be a drop in the bucket.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

Related Words

• bit
• trivial amount