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.”

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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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fly in the ointment

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

Some of you may have cleverly noticed the fly in the ointment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2021

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

Related Words

• defect
• deficiency
• difficulty
• disadvantage
• failing
• fault
• flaw
• hindrance
• hitch
• impediment
• imperfection
• inconvenience
• obstacle
• shortcoming
• snag
• stumbling block
• weakness