make a mountain out of a molehill
/ˌmeɪk ə ˈmaʊntən aʊt əv ə ˈməʊlhɪl/INFORMAL · B2
Meaning
to treat a small difficulty as if it were serious
Examples
- 1It's only a small scratch on the car, so don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
- 2Tom made a mountain out of a molehill when his parcel arrived a day late.
- 3Priya is making a mountain out of a molehill: her tutor only said the essay needed a better ending.
- 4Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill over one missed deadline.
- 5Do you think I made a mountain out of a molehill by complaining about one cold coffee?
Grammar
Only make changes: makes, making, made. What the fuss is about can follow with over or about.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about problems and trouble
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →nip something in the budto stop a problem at an early stage before it growsa tough nut to cracka problem or person that is very hard to deal withgo pear-shapedto start to fail and turn out badlyopen a can of wormsto start dealing with something that causes many new problemsa vicious circlea situation where one problem causes another that makes the first worseface the musicto accept criticism or punishment for something you did
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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