# What does ‘a fly in the ointment’ mean?

To “a fly in the ointment” means to a small flaw that spoils something good. From Ecclesiastes 10:1: 'Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour.' Brewer's lists it as one of the biblical phrases familiar in English.

## What it means

- From Ecclesiastes 10:1: 'Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour.' Brewer's lists it as one of the biblical phrases familiar in English.

## Action steps

1. Used when an otherwise fine plan has one nagging drawback.
2. Example: The trip was perfect — the only fly in the ointment was the weather.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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