tip of the iceberg

Cultural  

1. Only a hint or suggestion of a much larger or more complex issue or problem: “The money missing from petty cash was only the tip of the iceberg of financial mismanagement.” This phrase alludes to the fact that the bulk of a floating iceberg is concealed beneath the water, leaving only a small portion, its tip, visible above.

---

tip of the iceberg Idioms  

1. Superficial evidence of a much larger problem, as in Laying off a hundred workers is only the tip of the iceberg. This idiom alludes to the structure of an iceberg, most of whose bulk lies underwater. [Mid-1900s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tip of the iceberg

"This name is the tip of the iceberg," Yeni leader Ozgur Ozel told a party meeting on Wednesday, describing the scandal as "the robbery of the century".

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

This was the tip of the iceberg after he had seen poor quality workmanship over about six years.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

“We are just at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the legal questions about what is being offered on prediction markets,” said John Holden, an Indiana University business law professor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Campaigners tell the paper that the 2,729 blades entering the country in the first half of the year "could be just the tip of the iceberg".

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

But that disparity is just the tip of the iceberg.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• cursory
• frivolous
• one-dimensional
• perfunctory
• silly
• sketchy
• slight
• trivial