Meaning & Origin
“A blessing in disguise” describes a setback that unexpectedly leads to a positive outcome — the “disguise” hides the eventual benefit. The phrase has been used in English since the 18th century in poems and sermons.
Pronunciation Guide
- blessing — BLESS‑ing.
- in — short, unstressed.
- disguise — dis‑GUYZ, stress on the second syllable.
- Natural rhythm: a BLESS‑ing in dis‑GUYZ.
Usage & Sentence Examples
Use it when an apparent problem ends up helping in the long run.
- The delay was a blessing in disguise — it gave us time to fix critical bugs.
- Losing that client was a blessing in disguise; we focused on our ideal ICP.
- Her rejection became a blessing in disguise when a better offer arrived.
- The outage was a blessing in disguise — we improved monitoring and alerts.
- Missing the flight was a blessing in disguise because of the storm.
- The failed A/B test was a blessing in disguise that exposed data issues.
Synonyms
silver lining · happy accident · setback that helps · hidden benefit · stroke of luck · good outcome from a bad start
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