make a mountain out of a molehill

make a mountain out of a molehill

to make a slight difficulty seem like a serious problem. You're making a mountain out of a molehill. You wrote one bad essay - it doesn't mean you're going to fail your degree. (usually in continuous tenses)

See also: mountain

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make a mountain out of a molehill

to cause something simple to seem much more difficult or important. McAleer knows there's a mistake in the book and promised to correct it, but Rosen continues to complain about it — she's really trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Clever lawyers can make a molehill into a mountain.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form make a molehill out of a mountain to cause something difficult to be much easier: By dividing up a big assignment and working on it a little bit every day, you can make a molehill out of a mountain.

make a production (out) of something

blow something out of (all) proportion

See also: mountain