the tip of the iceberg
noun phrase
: a small part of something (such as a problem) that is seen or known about when there is a much larger part that is not seen or known about
The news is shocking, but we may find out that the stories we've heard so far are just the tip of the iceberg.
Examples of the tip of the iceberg in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
These cold cases — three in Southern California, one in North Carolina — could be just the tip of the iceberg.
—
Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
That first initial apocalypse turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, and with its explosive finale, viewers received closure on a series that evolved into a time-hopping, parallel universe-jumping, paradoxical web of chaos.
—Lucy Ford, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
But one man in particular looked at this as just the tip of the iceberg: Dr. Lincoln Ragsdale Sr.
Ragsdale was a Tuskegee Airman, a civil rights leader and a community activist.
—Amanda Luberto, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024
These are likely just the tip of the iceberg—during the same time period at least two states reported interdicting North Korean arms shipments to Syria, one of which included tiles used in the construction of new chemical weapons facilities.
—Bruce E. Bechtol, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2018
See all Example Sentences for the tip of the iceberg 
Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
That first initial apocalypse turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, and with its explosive finale, viewers received closure on a series that evolved into a time-hopping, parallel universe-jumping, paradoxical web of chaos.
—Lucy Ford, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
But one man in particular looked at this as just the tip of the iceberg: Dr. Lincoln Ragsdale Sr.
Ragsdale was a Tuskegee Airman, a civil rights leader and a community activist.
—Amanda Luberto, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024
These are likely just the tip of the iceberg—during the same time period at least two states reported interdicting North Korean arms shipments to Syria, one of which included tiles used in the construction of new chemical weapons facilities.
—Bruce E. Bechtol, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2018
See all Example Sentences for the tip of the iceberg
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the tip of the iceberg.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“The tip of the iceberg.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20tip%20of%20the%20iceberg. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
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