The tip of the iceberg is a small, visible part of a much bigger problem that most people don't know about yet. The image is simple: far more is hidden under the water. People usually say only or just the tip of the iceberg to stress that worse is to come.
When would you say the tip of the iceberg?
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(only/just) the tip of the iceberg; be the tip of the iceberg; what we see is just the tip of the iceberg
- The broken printer is just the tip of the iceberg; the whole office needs new equipment.
- These ten complaints are only the tip of the iceberg, because most customers never write to us.
- The noisy neighbours were only the tip of the iceberg: the flat also had damp walls and broken heating.
What changed
First versionThese complaints are only the top of the iceberg.
RevisionThese complaints are only the tip of the iceberg.
Top seems the natural word for the highest part of something, but it isn't used in this idiom. Tip means the pointed end of something, like the tip of your finger or a pencil. What shows above the water is the pointed end of the iceberg, so the idiom is always the tip of the iceberg.
Don't confuse it with a drop in the ocean, a tiny amount that changes nothing: Our donation was a drop in the ocean. The tip of the iceberg, on the contrary, warns that something big is hidden behind something small. This idiom is neutral and often appears in news and reports, so it's fine in an essay too.
Your turn
The cracks in the wall were only the ___ of the iceberg: the whole roof needed repairs.
Show the answer
tip — The cracks were a small visible detail hiding the need to repair the whole roof, so they were the tip of the iceberg. Top may seem logical, but it isn't used in this idiom.
Describe a problem at work or in your studies that turned out to hide something bigger. Name the small visible detail and what was behind it.
One late delivery was only the tip of the iceberg: our supplier had lost half of its drivers.
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