drop in the sea
- idiom
- Informal
:
gota en el mar
- His apology is only a drop in the sea after all the damage he's done.
Examples
-
My single complaint was a drop in the sea compared to the flood of feedback they received.
-
It's just a drop in the sea!
-
Spending that much money on relief was just a drop in the sea of what was required.
-
This is a drop in the sea compared to the total.
-
The funding they received was just a drop in the sea compared to the total amount needed for the project.
-
His contributions to the charity were merely a drop in the sea, but every bit helps.
-
While the donation was appreciated, it felt like a drop in the sea against the growing demand for support.
Synonyms
15
4.9
A very small amount that does not help with a much larger problem
2
3.8
A very small amount compared with what is needed
1
9.1
A very small amount with little effect on a big problem
A very small amount compared with what is needed
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The metaphor is directly recoverable from the parts: a 'drop' is a tiny quantity and the 'sea' is vast, so the image clearly conveys an amount that is negligible compared with the whole. This mapping is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'a drop in the ocean' / 'gota en el mar'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will very likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The idiom drop in the sea comes from the image of one drop of water falling into the huge sea; the drop quickly disappears and does not change the sea. That's why the phrase means 'a very small or unimportant amount' compared to the whole.