icing on the cake
Pleasant added touch
Icing on the cake is an additional benefit or enhancement to something already good: The promotion was great, but the corner office was icing on the cake.
The phrase emphasizes that the extra element, while welcome, isn't essential—the cake is already complete without it.
Occasionally used sarcastically for unwelcome additions to an already bad situation.
- cherry on topFinal embellishment completing something
- crowning gloryGreatest achievement or hair
- bonusReward beyond expectation
- added bonusRedundant phrase for extra
- perkEmployment bonus
frosting · lagniappe · embellishment · finishing touch · final flourish · gilding the lily · bells and whistles · windfall · luxury · gravy · gravy train · extra · golden touch · decoration · sweet spot · prize · sweetener · silver lining
- food idiomsbread winner, low-hanging fruit, cool as a cucumber, bad egg, apples and oranges
- top it offcap, crown, finish, complete, wrap up
- endingsending, the end, finish, close, final
- highlightshighlight, highlights, high point, spotlight, peak
icing on the cakebread and butter
Primary source of income
meat and potatoes · no-frills · basic · sine qua non · bedrock
icing on the cakefly in the ointment
Small flaw spoiling everything
the straw that broke the camel's back · adding insult to injury · salt in the wound
cake, icing, pancake, cakes, cupcake, fruitcake, caked, cheesecake, icebox