make a mountain out of a molehill

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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)

1. (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.

   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “
     She wondered why he, who did not usually trouble over trifles, made such a mountain of this molehill.”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, page 7:

     "It is only an old umbrella, isn't it?" she asked.

• blow out of proportion
• federal case
• magnify
• make a big thing out of
• sweat the small stuff