- Home
- Idioms
- a fly in the ointment
a fly in the ointment
a fly in the ointment
(spoken) someone or something that spoils a good situation What remains a fly in the ointment is the fact that the UN has not approved the peace plan.
Etymology: from a Bible story which explains that dead flies spoil ointment (medicine spread on the skin)
a fly in the ointment
someone or something that spoils a situation which could have been successful or pleasant The only fly in the ointment was my mother, who insisted on whispering through the first half of the show.