Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to make heavy weather of

to make heavy weather of

8.2
Act as if a task is much harder than it is
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : complicar
  • Instead of making heavy weather of the details, let's focus on the main points.

Examples

  • Don't make heavy weather of this project; it's actually quite simple.

  • "Och, laddie," he said, disparaging, "yon's no job to be making heavy weather of.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • You making heavy weather of it?

    Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

  • He tends to make heavy weather of minor issues, which frustrates his colleagues.

Synonyms

to exaggerate
vsto make heavy weather of
258 3.1

To say something is larger, better, or worse than it really is

specifically stresses making situations appear unnecessarily troublesome
to complicate
vsto make heavy weather of
101 4.1

To make something harder to understand or do

carries extra sense of overstating trouble beyond mere complication
to magnify
vsto make heavy weather of
34 4.6

To make something seem more important or serious than it really is

adds a practical sense of turning events into needless trouble
to overplay
vsto make heavy weather of
13 4.6

Make something seem more important or serious than it really is

is about stressing difficulty and trouble, not only importance or effect
to blow up
vsto make heavy weather of
4 3.7

To make something seem more important or bigger than it is

centres on turning an issue into an unnecessarily troublesome task
to make a mountain out of a molehill
vsto make heavy weather of
  • Informal
3 6.4

Treat a small problem as if it were very serious

similarly inflates importance but stresses creating unnecessary difficulty and trouble
to overcomplicate
vsto make heavy weather of
3 5.8

Make something harder than it needs to be

adds the sense of overstating how troublesome the situation feels
to overdramatize
vsto make heavy weather of
3 6.6

Describe something as more serious or emotional than it really is

stresses turning situations into troublesome or difficult matters rather than drama
to make a meal of
vsto make heavy weather of
  • Informal
1 8.3

Act as if something is much more difficult or important than it is

focuses on making situations seem needlessly difficult or troublesome
overcomplicated
vsto make heavy weather of
1 6.2

More complex than it needs to be

emphasizes making the situation seem harder and more troublesome
to overexaggerate
vsto make heavy weather of
1 5.4

To make something seem much worse or bigger than it is

focuses on showing events as needlessly difficult or problematic
to hyperbolize
vsto make heavy weather of
  • US
1 7.9

To make something seem much bigger or more important than it really is

applies that excess to making tasks seem unnecessarily hard or trying
to make hard work of
vsto make heavy weather of
  • UK
6.0

Do a simple job slowly or in the wrong way so it is much harder than needed

highlights exaggerating difficulty and trouble rather than just poor work
to overelaborate
vsto make heavy weather of
8.1

To add too much detail and make something more complicated than needed

leans more toward making situations feel troublesome, not only detailed
to remuddle the issue
vsto make heavy weather of
9.3

To make a problem more confusing instead of clearer

also implies overstating difficulty and creating needless trouble

Antonyms

to simplify
99 2.5

Make something easier to understand or use

to downplay
59 5.3

Show something as less important or serious than it is

How Complicated

to make heavy weather of
  • UK
8.2
to make a meal of
  • Informal
1 8.3
to fuss
19 2.8
to manage
239 2.3

Surface Forms

make heavy weather of infinitive
made heavy weather of past
made heavy weather of past participle
making heavy weather of present participle
makes heavy weather of third person singular

Morphology

make + heavy + weather + of

Although 'make' (cause) and 'heavy' (difficult/intense) give a partial clue that something is being rendered more burdensome, the collocation 'heavy weather' is a metaphorical, idiomatic unit (originally nautical) whose specific sense of 'making something unnecessarily difficult or overdoing it' is not directly predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the individual words might guess a sense related to difficulty but would unlikely reliably infer the precise meaning without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Make heavy weather of comes from old sailors. When a ship met big winds and rough seas it would make heavy weather—the crew had to work hard and move slowly, so the phrase now means 'to make something seem harder than it is'.