tip of the iceberg
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A small part of a larger, often hidden problem
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Một phần nhỏ của vấn đề lớn hơn, thường bị che giấu
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: the visible tip of an iceberg
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The recent layoffs are just the tip of the iceberg, with more financial troubles to come
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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “tip of the iceberg” mean?
A small part of a larger, often hidden problem Literally: the visible tip of an iceberg
Is “tip of the iceberg” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.