針小棒大

• 読み: しんしょうぼうだい
• ローマ字: shinshōbōdai
• 漢字の分解: 針 (shin/hari) — needle; 小 (shō/ko) — small; 棒 (bō) — stick, rod; 大 (dai/ō) — large
• 発音: /ɕiɴɕoːboːdaɪ/

意味

Making a mountain out of a molehill; gross exaggeration. Describes overstating the size or severity of something trivial.

A four-character idiomatic expression (四字熟語) that literally means 'a needle described as a stick.' Used to criticise someone who wildly exaggerates minor issues. Often followed by に言う or に表現する to describe how something is expressed.

例文

1. 彼女はいつも些細なことを針小棒大に語る。
2. メディアの報道は針小棒大な傾向がある。
3. 針小棒大に騒ぎ立てても問題は解決しない。

使い方ガイド

場面: criticism, media, interpersonal, literary

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Four-character compound (四字熟語): 針 (needle) + 小 (small) + 棒 (stick/rod) + 大 (large). Literally describes making something as small as a needle sound as large as a stick.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Educated