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

See Examples For:

silver lining

It's not automatic for the self-employed and people like Ashleigh have opted out because of immediate financial pressures, so it looks like plenty won't see the benefit of that silver lining.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

The silver lining, coming out of a season without their superstar, was the emergence of freshman Jazzy Davidson, who came to USC to play alongside Watkins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

All of which goes to show that there are few clouds without a silver lining, including the cloud of higher interest rates.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026

There is a silver lining to the bond selloff: The rise in yields reflects some confidence in the economy—even if it could eventually undermine that outlook by lifting borrowing costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

But just because you get distracted by the silver lining for a little while, that doesn’t mean there’s not still a huge dark cloud behind it.

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

Related Words

• bright side