exaggeration
Other forms: exaggerations
If you're prone to exaggeration, it means you habitually overstate the truth. If you have a dog and a hamster, it would be an exaggeration to describe yourself as "practically Doctor Dolittle," living in a house full of animals.
When you make something showier, or more noticeable than normal, that's also called exaggeration. The exaggeration of your hand movements might be necessary on stage so the audience can see them, but in real life it just looks silly. Exaggeration comes from the Latin word exaggerare, which means to magnify or to heap or pile on.
Definitions of exaggeration
-
making to seem more important than it really is
-
synonyms:
magnification, overstatement
-
Antonyms:
-
understatement
a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said
-
type of:
-
deceit, deception, misrepresentation
a misleading falsehood
-
understatement
-
extravagant exaggeration
-
synonyms:
hyperbole
-
type of:
-
figure, figure of speech, image, trope
language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
-
figure, figure of speech, image, trope
-
the act of making something more noticeable than usual
Pronunciation
US
/ɛgzædʒəˈreɪʃɪn/
UK
/ɛgzædʒəˈreɪʃən/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘exaggeration'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up exaggeration for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
