fly in the ointment
3
6.9
- idiom
- /flaɪ ɪn ði ˈɔɪntmənt/
- Informal
:
un inconveniente
- The only fly in the ointment of our vacation was the rain on the last day.
Examples
-
One fly in the ointment was the matter of getting the science data back to the ground from a solar monitoring station located precisely at L1.
Academic text (2005) -
The fly in the ointment is that this is simply not true.
Academic text (1999) -
But it seems we have a fly in the ointment.
-
Unfortunately, there is one fly in the ointment.
-
There is a fly in the ointment.
-
But there was one fly in the ointment.
Academic text (1997) -
But there was a fly in the ointment.
Fiction book (1994) -
The fly in the ointment seems to be the problem of health insurance.
Blog text (5) -
This has been the fly in the ointment, so to speak, since President Obama was sworn in.
Blog text (7) -
The one fly in the ointment is that the Congresswoman and the Speaker are not exactly the dearest of friends.
Blog text (3)
Synonyms
35
4.8
An unexpected problem that is not obvious at first
A small problem that spoils a good situation
A small problem that keeps annoying you
Antonyms
How Problematic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal image of a fly contaminating ointment provides a clear metaphorical link to something small that spoils a useful or pleasant thing, so a learner who knows the words can grasp the general negative idea. However, the idiomatic extension to 'a minor but annoying flaw in an otherwise good situation' and its conventionalized usage are not fully predictable or guaranteed to be understood without prior exposure, and similar metaphors are not uniformly present across languages.
Etymology
Fly in the ointment comes from the image of a small fly falling into a pot of ointment, a rich healing cream or perfume, and ruining it. So it now means a small problem that 'spoils' an otherwise good situation.