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

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Etymology

Origin of silver lining

First recorded in 1870–75

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silver lining

If they instead vote in person, a silver lining is that positive personal experiences with poll workers are also associated with increased voter trust.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Now 80, Nickisher revealed a silver lining of Trump's rise to power: He met fellow protester Maniscalco at the weekly roadside demonstrations, and the two have been dating for 14 months now.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

That was the silver lining of jazz in the 2010s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

The silver lining of Friday’s report is that the core index, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 2.4% year-over-year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

But hey, we might be fish out of water, but at least we had escaped the horns of our dilemma to a silver lining, as Mami might say.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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