silver lining

American  

noun

silver linings plural

1. a sign of hope in an unfortunate or gloomy situation; a bright prospect.

   Every cloud has a silver lining.

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silver lining British  

noun

1. a comforting or hopeful aspect of an otherwise desperate or unhappy situation (esp in the phrase every cloud has a silver lining )

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silver lining Idioms  

1. An element of hope or a redeeming quality in an otherwise bad situation, as in The rally had a disappointing turnout, but the silver lining was that those who came pledged a great deal of money. This metaphoric term is a shortening of Every cloud has a silver lining, in turn derived from John Milton's Comus (1634): “A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining on the night.”

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Usage

What does silver lining mean? A silver lining is a sign of hope or a positive aspect in an otherwise negative situation. The phrase is often seen as part of the proverb Every cloud has a silver lining, meaning that there’s hope or something good to be found in every bad situation. In real life, when a cloud looks like its edges are shining and silvery, it’s because the sun is behind it. That’s the metaphor: things are cloudy (bad), but they will get sunny (positive) again—or you can least enjoy the one shiny (positive) part in all the gloominess. Example: Getting your tonsils out is a bummer, but there’s a silver lining—you get to eat a lot of ice cream afterward.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• silver linings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of silver lining

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

One silver lining to Stokes' absence could be the time he spent in the middle for Durham.

From BBC • Jun. 21, 2026

But then there’s baseball, and one possible silver lining.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026

A slight improvement in services sentiment provided a silver lining, as well as a drop in selling-price expectations, pointing to a slower transition of input costs into core inflation, Colijn notes.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

The silver lining: While some of these these fallen stocks will emerge losers, some will turn out to be winners.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

A silver lining in the very cloudy sky that is my life right now.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• bright side