glimmer of hope
Barely visible promise
A glimmer of hope is a small, faint reason to believe things might improve—the barely visible light at the end of a dark tunnel.
The phrase acknowledges difficult circumstances while suggesting they aren't entirely hopeless: There's still a glimmer of hope that negotiations will succeed.
Unlike "ray of hope," which suggests something clearer, a glimmer is tenuous and uncertain.
- light at the end of the tunnelIndication difficulties will end
- possibilityState of being achievable
- optimismTendency to expect good
- silver liningConsolation within misfortune
- sign of lifeEvidence of living presence
promise · chance · flicker · resurgence · better days · turning point · spark · upliftment · first light · beacon · positive · shimmer · likelihood · breakthrough · dawn · green shoots · recovery · encouragement
glimmer of hopedespair
Total absence of hope
hopelessness · desperation · sense of doom · bleakness · desolation
glimmer of hopelost cause
Endeavor certain to fail
dead end · no chance · impossibility · foregone conclusion · death knell
glimmer, glimmering, glimmers, glimmered, hope, hopes, hoped, hoping, hopeful