MEANING
Something that seems unfortunate at first but later leads to a beneficial result.
Use it for
describing an unexpected benefit from a setback; reinterpreting a disappointment after later events; showing that a misfortune opened a better opportunity; contrasting first impressions with eventual consequencesNames a bad-looking event that later brings a beneficial result. Writing functions: Unexpected benefit.
Words that belong together
- prove a blessing in disguise
- turn out to be a blessing in disguise
On the page
Missing the train was a blessing in disguise; she met the researcher who later became her collaborator.
The rejected application proved a blessing in disguise when a more suitable post opened nearby.
Word forms
- Base
- a blessing in disguise
Usage notes
Idiomatic noun phrase, often prove to be or turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Blessing can be plural in ordinary sentence variation. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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