English

Noun

silver lining ‎(plural silver linings)

1. (figuratively) 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

• (good aspect): bright side

Related terms

• every cloud has a silver lining
• every silver lining has a cloud

Translations

See also

• blessing in disguise,
• God works in mysterious ways

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 0380762382, page 52. Quoted in “Re: Every cloud has a silver lining”, phrases.org.uk.