Meanings
present singular third person molehills · participle present molehilling · participle past molehilled · past molehilled
- To exaggerate a problem and perceive it as larger or worse than it actually is.
As Brazil faced the mountainous task of completing an Olympic venue before the opening ceremony, Chinese netizens got busy molehilling a remark by a Rio construction manager about their China supplier.
2016 August 4, “Off-hand remark in Rio chafes Chinese Net”, in Global Times, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2020
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From mole + hill. The verb sense comes from the idiom make a mountain out of a molehill.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кърти́чина
- кърти́чина (kărtíčina)A small mound of earth
Catalan talpera
- talperaA small mound of earth
Czech krtina, krtinec
- krtinaA small mound of earth
- krtinecA small mound of earth
Danish muldvarpeskud
- muldvarpeskudA small mound of earth
Dutch molshoop
- molshoopA small mound of earth
Estonian mutimullahunnik
- mutimullahunnikA small mound of earth
Finnish myyränmätäs
- myyränmätäsA small mound of earth
French taupinière
- taupinièreA small mound of earth
German Maulwurfshügel, Maulwurfshaufen
- MaulwurfshügelA small mound of earth
- MaulwurfshaufenA small mound of earth
Hungarian vakondtúrás
- vakondtúrásA small mound of earth
Icelandic moldvörpuhaugur
- moldvörpuhaugurA small mound of earth
Irish carnán caochán
- carnán caochánA small mound of earth
Italian monticello di terra
- monticello di terraA small mound of earth
Japanese 土竜塚, もぐらづか
- 土竜塚A small mound of earth
- もぐらづかA small mound of earth
Latvian kurmja rakums
- kurmja rakumsA small mound of earth
Lithuanian kùrmiarausis, kùrmrausis
- kùrmiarausisA small mound of earth
- kùrmrausisA small mound of earth
Polish kretowisko
- kretowiskoA small mound of earth
Portuguese monte/montículo de toupeira
- monte/montículo de toupeiraA small mound of earth
Russian крото́вина
- крото́вина (krotóvina)A small mound of earth
Slovak krtinec, krtina
- krtinecA small mound of earth
- krtinaA small mound of earth
Spanish topera, topinera
- toperaA small mound of earth
- topineraA small mound of earth
Swedish mullvadshög
- mullvadshögA small mound of earth
Turkish köstebek deliği, köstebek yuvası
- köstebek deliğiA small mound of earth
- köstebek yuvasıA small mound of earth
Ukrainian крото́вина, кротови́ння
- крото́вина (krotóvyna)A small mound of earth
- кротови́ння (krotovýnnja)A small mound of earth
- крото́вище (krotóvyšče)A small mound of earth
Cite this entry
molehill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molehill
“molehill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molehill. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “molehill,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molehill.
Source: molehill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.