drop in bucket
Meaningless small amount
A drop in the bucket is an amount so small relative to what's needed that it barely matters.
The phrase emphasizes inadequacy: We raised five thousand dollars, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what we owe.
Sometimes used to dismiss contributions as insignificant or to highlight the scale of a problem.
- pittanceInsultingly small payment
- chump changeInsignificant amount of money
- small potatoesInsignificant things or people
- trifleInsignificant matter or thing
- small fryChildren or insignificant people
speck · grain · crumb · morsel · negligible · insignificant · tiny · ocean · vast · tip of iceberg · minuscule · needle in haystack · futile · meaningless · pebble · gesture · token · splash
- triflestrifle, trivia, bagatelle, minutiae, nothing
- smallnesssmall, little, tiny, mini, miniature
- tiny amountsbit, hint, dash, dot, touch
- triviatrivia, facts, quiz, anecdotes, trivia night
- worthless thingsnot worth a dime, not worth a hill of beans, dime a dozen, two-bit, good for nothing
- Running Lowrunning low, in short supply, running out, dried up, at a premium
drop in bucketlion's share
Greatest part of total
bulk · majority · the whole nine yards · game changer · windfall
drop in bucketmore than enough
Quantity exceeding necessity
plenty · abundance · surplus · overflow · embarrassment of riches
drop, bucket, drops, dropped, dropping, dropper, droplet, buckets, bucketed