molehill mountaineer
- noun
- /ˈmoʊlhɪl ˌmaʊntɪˈnɪr/
- Offensive
:
alarmista (despectivo)
- Among the staff, he's known as the molehill mountaineer for always blowing things out of proportion.
Examples
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Don't be a molehill mountaineer; the problem isn't as big as you think.
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My mother is such a molehill mountaineer when it comes to the smallest inconveniences.
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Don't be such a molehill mountaineer about this issue!
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My friend is a real molehill mountaineer when it comes to small inconveniences.
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Among the staff, he's known as the molehill mountaineer for always blowing things out of proportion.
-
Don't be a molehill mountaineer; the problem isn't as big as you think.
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My mother is such a molehill mountaineer when it comes to the smallest inconveniences.
Synonyms
1
4.8
A person who makes things seem bigger or more extreme than they are
A person who reacts in a very emotional way to small ordinary events
How Dramatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
molehill + mountaineer
The phrase composes two literal constituents so its meaning is directly inferable: a 'mountaineer' of 'molehills' implies someone who treats very small bumps as mountains, i.e. exaggerates minor problems. Although playful and novel, the noun+noun metaphor follows transparent compositional logic that a B1 learner who knows both words can readily understand.
Etymology
Molehill mountaineer comes from the picture of someone trying to climb a tiny molehill as if it were a great mountain and acting like a real mountaineer. That funny image shows a person who 'makes a small thing seem big', so the term means someone who exaggerates small problems.