fly in the ointment
Something which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasantSomething (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail.
» That place's food is great, and their prices are good, but the fly in the ointment is their terrible location.
shekitten · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)Something (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail.
Haar in der Suppe
- an inconvenience that detracts from the usefulness of something
Examples
4 sentencesThat place's food is great, and their prices are good, but the fly in the ointment is their terrible location.
There was a fly in the ointment.
ruВ бочке мёда была ложка дёгтя. — Balamax
Don't look for the fly in the ointment.
It's a good paying job, but the fly in the ointment is that I'll have to spend a lot of time traveling.
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
A reference to Ecclesiastes 10:1 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “A reference to Ecclesiastes 10:1 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doeth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.”
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: flies in the ointment| Singular | fly in the ointment |
|---|---|
| Plural | flies in the ointment |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
2 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.