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make a mountain out of a molehill

Cultural  
  1. To blow an issue or event out of proportion: “You have only a small blister on your heel, but you complain as though you broke your leg. Why are you making a mountain out of a molehill?”


make a mountain out of a molehill Idioms  
  1. Exaggerate trifling difficulties, as in If you forgot you racket you can borrow one—don't make a mountain out of a molehill. This expression, alluding to the barely raised tunnels created by moles, was first recorded in John Fox's The Book of Martyrs (1570).


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill,” she said speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

From Reuters

“I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I also want to be careful to follow what the rules are,” he said.

From Seattle Times

Similarly, Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said investors shouldn’t make a “mountain out of a molehill,” with the most recent quarterly figures.

From Seattle Times

To head the Council of Economic Advisers, I nominate my Aunt Ruby, who never once failed to make a mountain out of a molehill.

From Washington Post

“This show traffics in culture wars. It might literally be the NFL, because that’s the fight the commander-in-chief’s decided we ought to have. So if we can take that fight, and make a mountain out of a molehill, it’s a way for us to show the tactics, as opposed to the story.”

From The Guardian