tip of the iceberg

noun phrase

: the earliest, most obvious, or most superficial manifestation of some phenomenon

Examples of tip of the iceberg in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That's just the small tip of the iceberg of her radical views. CBS News, 4 Aug. 2024 Now, nearly half a millennium after Galileo marveled at the myriad pinpricks of light—moons, planets, and stars—in Earth’s skies, his successors are getting acquainted with the brightest tip of the iceberg of darker objects adrift between them. Charlie Wood, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2023 Right, and again, to use an analogy, tip of the iceberg, this is just the one example of a number of analogous developments happening globally, the U.S. level. Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023 Now, nearly half a millennium after Galileo marveled at the myriad pinpricks of light — moons, planets and stars — in Earth’s skies, his successors are getting acquainted with the brightest tip of the iceberg of darker objects adrift between them. Quanta Magazine, 13 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

from an iceberg being mostly submerged

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tip of the iceberg was in 1969

Dictionary Entries Near tip of the iceberg

Cite this Entry

“Tip of the iceberg.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tip%20of%20the%20iceberg. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

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