English · Idiom Candidate

drop in the bucket

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A small amount that makes little difference

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một lượng nhỏ không có nhiều tác động

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a drop of water in a bucket

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The donation was just a drop in the bucket compared to the total needed

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent muối bỏ biển a drop in the bucket Tiếng Việt Near equivalent draw a long bow to exaggerate or tell a lie English · via muối bỏ biển

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “drop in the bucket” mean?

A small amount that makes little difference Literally: a drop of water in a bucket

Is “drop in the bucket” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“muối bỏ biển” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.