make much of

phrase

1

: to treat as of importance

The drill sergeant made much of his toughness.

2

: to treat with obvious affection or special consideration

She had evidently enjoyed being made much of in Youngstown …

—New Yorker

Examples of make much of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Development and wildfires have destroyed swaths of the plants’ habitat, while climate change is threatening to make much of what remains inhospitable. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

The company has also parted ways with Marriage Story writer-director Noah Baumbach, whose other Netflix projects, like White Noise and Jay Kelly, failed to make much of a splash. — Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 2 Oct. 2026

Set in Palm Springs, California, and seen on Broadway in 2011, the play probes a rich, powerful, troubled and Reagan-esque West Coast political family and makes much of the metaphor of the arid, infertile desert. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026

It's not made much of a difference, with two more crashes this week alone. — Meghan Schiller, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1510, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for make much of

• hereinabove
• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove