double-edged sword
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.48 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A benefit that is also a liability, especially a benefit that carries some significant but not-so-obvious cost or risk.
noun
A neutral principle that has applications that may be either positive (beneficial) or negative (adverse) to one's own interests.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see double-edged, sword.
Example Sentences
- "He added: “Facebook is a double-edged sword. You don’t want to support it, but you have to use it in order to reach a large audience.”"
- "The double-edged sword of movie stardom remains the same as it ever was: when a persona is so fixed in the public mind, it's what people love you for, and it becomes difficult to deviate from."
- "Of course, social media is a double-edged sword, and the opportunity for passengers to communicate their feelings to media teams is not always a happy one."
- "“Nuclear weapons are becoming part of the international conversation again and that’s a double-edged sword. I’m glad they are, but this is because nuclear risks are rising,” […]"
- "The unintended ambiguity of the phrase was a double-edged sword: it spurred litigation but it also ended up shielding good-faith actors."
- "The phrase was, and remains, a double-edged sword: a testament to the hard-working and hard-living citizens of the Crescent City and an indicator of the “ah, whatever” shrug hanging over its corrupt politics, its ramshackle infrastructure and its belief that partying trumps all."
Etymology
From the notion that if two sides of the same blade are sharp, it cuts both ways. The metaphor may have originated from the Arabic expression سَيْفٌ ذُو حَدَّيْنِ (sayfun ḏū ḥaddayni, “double-edged sword”) or from the Hebrew expression חֶרֶב פִּיפִיּוֹת (ẖérev pifiyót, “double-mouthed sword”). The metaphor is first attested in English in the 15th century.
Inflected Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
dual-use technology
a blessing and a curse
be careful what you wish for
blurse
cut both ways
Midas
Trojan horse