tip of the iceberg
A small indication of a larger possibility; the first part encountered of a problem that is much bigger than it seems.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“These complaints are just the tip of the iceberg.”
“The missing money we found is only the tip of the iceberg; the full fraud is much worse.”
“What the investigators had uncovered thus far was merely the tip of the iceberg, hinting at a conspiracy that reached into the highest levels of government.”
first recorded 20th c. disputed origin
The idiom is derived from the physical reality of floating icebergs, which typically conceal nine-tenths of their total volume below the surface of the water. The visible portion, or the tip, represents a fraction of the mass remaining submerged and unseen.
Early 20th-century usage of the term is believed to have been influenced by the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic. Following the vessel's collision with an iceberg on 15 April 1912, the catastrophic potential of submerged ice became a matter of global public record, and the phrase subsequently settled into English to denote a small, visible part of a much larger complication.
- 01
arse over tip
Tumbling or falling; upside-down.
- 02
pro tip
A useful piece of advice.
- 03
tip of the hat
A gesture of acknowledgement; often, an expression of gratitude; originally by doffing one's hat.
- 04
tip of the ice cube
The first aspect of an insignificant or exaggerated problem or situation.
- 05
tip one's hat
To acknowledge or show respect; to honor.
- 06
tip the scale
To change the fortunes, either positively or negatively.
- 07
tip the scales
To turn to one side of a balanced situation.
- 08
tip the wink
To give (somebody) a hint or suggestion, as if by a wink; to ask or tell surreptitiously.
Last updated August 10, 2026