Dutch comfort
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
'Tis a comfort it was no worse. The comfort derivable from the con- sideration that how bad soever the evil which has befallen you, a worse is at least conceivable.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Dutch comfort” mean?
'Tis a comfort it was no worse. The comfort derivable from the con- sideration that how bad soever the evil which has befallen you, a worse is at least conceivable.
Is “Dutch comfort” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.