make a mountain out of a molehill (third-person singular simple present makes a mountain out of a molehill, present participle making a mountain out of a molehill, simple past and past participle made a mountain out of a molehill)
- (transitive, idiomatic) To treat a problem as greater than it is; to blow something out of proportion; to exaggerate the importance of something trivial.
If you’re stuck in traffic, try not to make a mountain out of a molehill worrying about it too much. You could be making it much worse.
- 1573, John Bridges, The Supremacie of Christian Princes Over All Persons Throughout Theor Dominions, London: Humphrey Toye, Division 18, p. 553,[1]
- to slaunder the Gospell ye aggrauate many lies, & will make a mountaine of a mole hill
- 1642, James Howell, Instructions for Forreine Travell, London: Humphrey Mosley, Section 14, p. 176-177,[2]
- Others have a custome to bee always relating strange things and wonders, […] they make Mountaines of Mole-hils, like Charenton-Bridge-Eccho, which doubles the sound nine times.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin, John Smith, Volume 3, Book 15, Chapter 10, pp. 170-171,[3]
- For of all the Powers exercised by this Passion over our Minds, one of the most wonderful is that of supporting Hope in the midst of Despair. […] Yet it is equally true, that the same Passion will sometimes make Mountans of Mole-hills, and produce Despair in the midst of Hope;
1868, Wilkie Collins, chapter 12, in The Moonstone[4], volume 1, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 207:“I have now only one remark to offer, on leaving this case in your hands. There is such a thing, Sergeant, as making a mountain out of a molehill. Good morning.”
1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers[5], London: Heinemann, Part 2, Chapter 7, p. 181:She wondered why he, who did not usually trouble over trifles, made such a mountain of this molehill.
to treat a problem as greater than it is
- Albanian: please add this translation if you can
- Armenian: լվից ուղտ շինել (lvicʻ uġt šinel, literally “to make a camel out of a louse”)
- Azerbaijani: milçəkdən fil düzəltmək (literally “to make an elephant out of a fly”)
- Belarusian: рабіць з мухі слана (rabicʹ z muxi slana)
- Catalan: fer-ne una muntanya (d'un gra de sorra) (literally “to make a mountain out of a grain of sand”), ofegar-se en un got d'aigua (literally “to drown in a glass of water”)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 小題大作／小题大作 (zh) (xiǎotídàzuò)
- Czech: dělat z komára velblouda (cs) (literally “to make a camel out of a mosquito”)
- Danish: gøre en myg til en elefant (literally “to turn a mosquito into an elephant”)
- Dutch: van een mug een olifant maken (nl) (literally “to make an elephant out of a mosquito”), (Flanders) van een muis een olifant maken
- Esperanto: fari el muŝo elefanton
- Estonian: teha sääsest elevant
- Faroese: gera nógv burtur úr ongum
- Finnish: tehdä kärpäsestä härkänen (fi)
- French: faire tout un fromage de (fr) (literally “to make an entire cheese out of”), se noyer dans un verre d’eau (fr) (literally “to drown in a glass of water”), faire une montagne d’une souris (literally “to make an mountain out of a mouse”), faire une montagne d’une taupinière (literally “to make a mountain out of a molehill”)
- German: aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen (de) (literally “to make an elephant out of a mosquito”), aus einem Furz einen Donnerschlag machen (de) (literally “to make a thunder out of a fart”) (vulgar)
- Greek: κάνω την τρίχα τριχιά (el) (káno tin trícha trichiá), πνίγομαι σε μια κουταλιά νερό (pnígomai se mia koutaliá neró)
- Hebrew: רָאָה צֵל הָרִים כְּהָרִים (he) (raá tsel harím keharím), עָשָׂה מִזְּבוּב פִּיל ('asá mizvúv pil), עָשָׂה מֵעַכְבָּר הַר ('asá me'akhbár har)
- Hindi: राई का पहाड़ बनाना (rāī kā pahāṛ banānā, literally “to make a mountain out of a mustard seed”)
- Hungarian: bolhából elefántot csinál
- Icelandic: gera úlfalda úr mýflugu (is) (literally “to make a camel out of a midge/gnat”)
- Indonesian: membuat gunung dari sarang tikus mondok
- Italian: fare di una mosca un elefante (literally “to make an elephant out of a mosquito”)
- Kazakh: түймедейді түйедей ету (tüimedeidı tüiedei etu)
- Korean: 침소봉대(針小棒大) (chimsobongdae, literally “pin-thin (goes) stick-thick”), 견문발검(見蚊拔劒) (ko) (gyeonmunbalgeom, literally “to see a mosquito and draw a sword”), 노승발검(怒蠅拔劒) (noseungbalgeom)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: mêş kirin gamêş
- Latin: nodum in scirpo quero
- Macedonian: од мува прави слон (od muva pravi slon, literally “to make an elephant ou of a fly”)
- Norwegian: gjøre en fjær til fem høns
- Bokmål: gjøre en mygg til en elefant
- Nynorsk: gjere ein mygg til ein elefant
- Polish: robić z igły widły (pl), robić z muchy słonia (pl) impf
- Portuguese: fazer tempestade em copo d'água (Brazil), fazer uma tempestade num copo de água (Portugal)
- Punjabi: ਰਾਈ ਦਾ ਪਹਾੜ ਬਣਾਉਣਾ (rāī dā pahāṛ baṇāuṇā, literally “to make a mountain out of a mustard seed”)
- Romanian: face din țânțar armăsar (literally “to make a stallion out of a mosquito”)
- Russian: де́лать из му́хи слона́ (ru) (délatʹ iz múxi sloná, literally “to make an elephant out of a fly”)
- Slovak: urobiť z komára somára (literally “to make a donkey out of a mosquito”)
- Slovene: narediti iz muhe slona (literally “to make an elephant out of a fly”)
- Spanish: hacer una montaña de un grano de arena (literally “to make a mountain out of a grain of sand”), hacer de una pulga un elefante (literally “to make an elephant out of a flea”), ahogarse en un vaso de agua (es) (literally “to drown in a glass of water”)
- Swedish: göra en höna av en fjäder (sv) (literally “to make a hen out of a feather”)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: pireyi deve yapmak (tr) (literally “make the flea a camel”)
- Ukrainian: робити з мухи слона (uk) (robyty z muxy slona, literally “to make an elephant out of a fly”)
- Vietnamese: chuyện bé xé ra to
- Welsh: gwneud môr a mynydd (literally “to make a sea and a mountain”)
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