Meanings
plural tempests in teapots
- idiomaticA major fuss over a trivial matter.
The media frenzy over the actor's drunken behavior was a tempest in a teapot.
Synonyms: much ado about nothing, storm in a teacup, and its variants storm in a tea-kettle, storm in a glass of water, and storm in a teapot, tempest in a teacup, tempest in a tea-kettle
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA major fuss over a trivial matter.
Origin
Attested since 1838.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali চায়ের কাপে ঝড়
- চায়ের কাপে ঝড় (caẏer kape jhoṛ)big fuss made in a small context
Catalan tempesta en un vas d'aigua
- tempesta en un vas d'aiguabig fuss made in a small context
Chinese Mandarin 小題大做 /小题大做
- 小題大做 /小题大做 (xiǎotídàzuò)big fuss made in a small context
Czech bouře ve sklenici vody
- bouře ve sklenici vodybig fuss made in a small context
Danish storm i et glas vand
- storm i et glas vandbig fuss made in a small context
Dutch storm in een glas water
- storm in een glas waterbig fuss made in a small context
Estonian torm veeklaasis
- torm veeklaasisbig fuss made in a small context
Finnish myrsky vesilasissa
- myrsky vesilasissabig fuss made in a small context
French tempête dans un verre d'eau
- tempête dans un verre d'eaubig fuss made in a small context
German Sturm im Wasserglas
- Sturm im Wasserglasbig fuss made in a small context
Hungarian vihar egy pohár vízben
- vihar egy pohár vízbenbig fuss made in a small context
Icelandic veður út af engu, ys og þys út af engu
- veður út af engubig fuss made in a small context
- ys og þys út af engubig fuss made in a small context
Italian tempesta in un bicchiere d'acqua
- tempesta in un bicchiere d'acquabig fuss made in a small context
Japanese コップの中の嵐
- コップの中の嵐 (koppu no naka no arashi)big fuss made in a small context
Korean 찻잔 속의 폭풍
- 찻잔 속의 폭풍 (chatjan sogui pokpung)big fuss made in a small context
Norwegian Bokmål storm i et vannglass
- storm i et vannglassbig fuss made in a small context
Polish burza w szklance wody
- burza w szklance wodybig fuss made in a small context
Portuguese tempestade em copo d’água
- tempestade em copo d’águabig fuss made in a small context
Romanian furtună într-un pahar de apă, furtună-n pahar de apă
- furtună într-un pahar de apăbig fuss made in a small context
- furtună-n pahar de apăbig fuss made in a small context
Slovak búrka v pohári vody
- búrka v pohári vodybig fuss made in a small context
Spanish tormenta en un vaso de agua
- tormenta en un vaso de aguabig fuss made in a small context
Swedish storm i ett vattenglas
- storm i ett vattenglasbig fuss made in a small context
Turkish incir çekirdeğini doldurmaz
- incir çekirdeğini doldurmazbig fuss made in a small context
Vietnamese chuyện bé xé ra to, cơn bão trong tách trà
- chuyện bé xé ra tobig fuss made in a small context
- cơn bão trong tách tràbig fuss made in a small context
Yiddish אַ שטורעם אין אַ גלאָז וואַסער
- אַ שטורעם אין אַ גלאָז וואַסער (a shturem in a gloz vaser)big fuss made in a small context
Cite this entry
tempest in a teapot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tempest%20in%20a%20teapot
“tempest in a teapot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tempest%20in%20a%20teapot. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tempest in a teapot,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tempest%20in%20a%20teapot.
Source: tempest in a teapot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.