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.

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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]

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Example Sentences

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg; you could easily double or triple the number of university retirement communities.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

"We are potentially only seeing the tip of the iceberg," Dr. Tordjman said.

From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026

"We should be alarmed and very concerned – it's really the tip of the iceberg," said Nora Amath, the executive director of the Islamophobia Register Australia.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

We believe fox8 was only the tip of the iceberg because better coders can filter out self-revealing posts or use open-source AI models fine-tuned to remove ethical guardrails.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2026

What Alex had seen as he crept around Sayle Enterprises had only been the tip of the iceberg.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Related Words

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