silver lining

English

Etymology

Originating in John Milton's poem “Comus”;[1] see 1634 quotation. The proverb every cloud has a silver lining is an allusion to the relevant passage.

Noun

silver lining (plural silver linings)

  1. (figurative) A good aspect of a mostly bad event.
    • 1634, John Milton, Comus:
      Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night? / I did not err: there does a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night, / And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations
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See also

References
  1. “every cloud has a silver lining” in Stuart Berg Flexner and Doris Flexner, Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings, and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New, Avon Books (1993), →ISBN, page 52. Quoted in “Re: Every cloud has a silver lining”, phrases.org.uk.
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