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.”

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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

And yet the money they bring is just a drop in the bucket compared with the enormous investments they require.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025

As much of a warning as that was, it still didn’t sink in as deeply as it should have—because the official responses were, well, literally, a drop in the bucket.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• bit
• trivial amount