How do you say “Make a mountain out of a molehill” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is faire toute une montagne de quelque chose, which literally means “to make a whole mountain of something”. English speakers use make a mountain out of a molehill to mean to treat a small problem as if it were a much more serious one. A close match. “En faire tout un fromage” is more playful. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
faire toute une montagne de quelque chose
/fɛʁ tut yn mɔ̃taɲ də kɛlkə ʃoz/
- Literal meaning
- “to make a whole mountain of something”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
96 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
French keeps the mountain but doesn't need the molehill. Name the problem after “de,” or use “en” if you've already mentioned it: “N'en fais pas toute une montagne.”
“En faire tout un fromage” is more playful and means making a fuss. Both can sound dismissive if the other person's concern is reasonable.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity4 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in French?
en faire tout un fromage
Literally: “to make a whole cheese of it”
More colloquial; suggests making a big fuss.
dramatiser
Literally: “to dramatise”
A direct verb, useful when a vivid idiom would be distracting.
In context
English
Don't make a mountain out of a molehill; it's a tiny mistake.
French
N'en fais pas toute une montagne ; c'est une toute petite erreur.
English
She made a mountain out of a molehill over a late reply.
French
Elle a fait toute une montagne d'une réponse tardive.
Related expressions
- What “Make a mountain out of a molehill” means in English
- A storm in a teacup, Great anger or worry about something unimportant.
- Cry over spilt milk, To worry uselessly about past mistakes.
Last updated 2026-09-16