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

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

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

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

The silver lining is that there’s a limit to how volatile the index can get.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 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

Then I see the silver lining and give Jonesy a smile with my eyelids at half-mast.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

Related Words

• bright side