half of it

Idioms  

1. Only part of something, as in You saw them together, but that's just the half of it; she's moved in with him. This phrase, signifying the most important portion (more than half), is often put negatively as not the half of it, as in You thought they played badly? That's not the half of it, because they've been kicked out of the league. [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

When you have built a large portfolio and watch half of it disappear, a 50% drawdown stops being a number on a page.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

They’ve figured it out in these playoffs, in which they have taken three series and won their last 11 games, and, really, that’s not the half of it.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

And the other half of it is just age.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

But the "dark and gritty" 12-part storyline was ordered to be wiped, and more than half of it remains missing.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

No matter how big the bag, why was over half of it always stale air?

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas