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

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