tempest in a teapot

Idioms

Also, tempest in a teacup. A great disturbance or uproar over a matter of little or no importance. For example, All that because a handful of the thousand invited guests didn't show up? What a tempest in a teapot! This expression has appeared in slightly different forms for more than 300 years. Among the variations are storm in a cream bowl, tempest in a glass of water, and storm in a hand-wash basin. The British prefer storm in a teacup. The current American forms were first recorded in 1854. For a synonym, see much ado about nothing.

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.

tempest in a teapot

Is it just another tempest in a teapot?

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2024

The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2023

If you’re not following the Android blogs, you might say this is a tempest in a teapot.

From The Verge ● Aug. 8, 2019

Kudos to Ms. Luna, but this seems like a tempest in a teapot.

From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2017

I think we're having a sort of tempest in a teapot, Roy.

From Roy Blakeley's Adventures in Camp by Percy Keese Fitzhugh

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023