mixed blessing

noun

1. something that, although generally favorable or advantageous, has one or more unfavorable or disadvantageous features.

mixed blessing

noun

1. an event, situation, etc, having both advantages and disadvantages

Word History and Origins

Origin of mixed blessing¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Idioms and Phrases

Something that has both good and bad features, as in Being accepted by the college was a mixed blessing, since she couldn't afford the tuition . [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

“We’re all indoctrinated into thinking that there’s nothing more important than autonomy, but it’s a very mixed blessing,” says Schwartz.

From Slate

“Nationalism is a mixed blessing for China’s leaders, and at the moment we are witnessing the costs of that,” says Professor Schneider.

From BBC

But there is a mixed blessing in the weather shift.

From Los Angeles Times

The show burrows into the character’s psyche while surveying the mixed blessing of marriage in a kaleidoscopic revue that boasts one of Sondheim’s most irresistible scores.

From Los Angeles Times

Asmaa said survival was a mixed blessing.

From BBC