scintilla of hope
- noun
- /sɪnˈtɪlə əv hoʊp/
- Formal
:
una chispa de esperanza
- Even a scintilla of hope can change everything.
Examples
-
There wasn’t even a scintilla of hope left in their eyes after the announcement.
-
Despite the grim news, she still held on to a scintilla of hope for recovery.
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The verdict left him with only a scintilla of hope for appeal.
-
There was a scintilla of hope left after the disaster.
-
Even in the darkest times, there can be a scintilla of hope that things will improve.
-
After the storm passed, the sun broke through the clouds, providing a scintilla of hope for a brighter day.
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She held onto a scintilla of hope that she would find her lost pet.
Synonyms
10
3.4
A very small possibility that something will happen
1
4.1
A small, brief feeling that things may get better
Antonyms
How Much Hope
∞
1.0
- Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very small amount of hope' is directly compositional: 'scintilla' denotes a minute quantity and 'of hope' specifies the domain, so the phrase straightforwardly denotes a tiny amount of hope. Although 'scintilla' is a low-frequency, formal word that many B1 learners may not know, if they know the constituent meanings the phrase follows a common quantifier + of + noun pattern and is predictable.
Etymology
The phrase scintilla of hope comes from the image of a tiny spark: scintilla means a very small flash or spark, like a single light in the dark. So, just as that small spark can show there is a chance, a scintilla of hope means 'a very small amount of hope'.