exaggeration

[ ig-zaj-uh-rey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of exaggerating or overstating.
2. an instance of exaggerating; an overstatement:

   His statement concerning the size of his income is a gross exaggeration.

Other Words From

• nonex·agger·ation noun
• over·ex·agger·ation noun
• self-ex·agger·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of exaggeration¹

1555–65; < Latin exaggerātiōn- (stem of exaggerātiō ), equivalent to exaggerāt ( us ) ( exaggerate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

It’s not an exaggeration to say decisions made today could affect the planet for thousands of years.

From Popular-Science

This was clearly the most important announcement since RankBrain and no exaggeration — and not just for the world of web search.

From Search Engine Land

We are regressing at the worst possible time for us to do so, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that thousands of lives hang in the balance — the lives of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who could easily fall.

From Ozy

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Thompson created Georgetown basketball — and Big East basketball — as we know it.

From FiveThirtyEight

It’s no exaggeration to say that WeChat changed my father’s life.

From MIT Technology Review

And this big box that encloses him is only an exaggeration of his regular nerd-dandy clothes.

From The Daily Beast

No exaggeration, Ronaldo is one of the two best footballers in the world.

From The Daily Beast

Exaggeration and hyperbole are constant campaign companions, as useful and expected as hammers and saws on a construction site.

From The Daily Beast

It is no exaggeration to say that the way society deals with drugs is shifting more quickly than ever before.

From The Daily Beast

Wolf is about the American Dream gone haywire, so exaggeration is the name of the game.

From The Daily Beast

Any exaggeration into which a feeling of indignation happens to betray the accuser is instantly pounced upon.

From Project Gutenberg

His last night's jealous speculations touching a man he did not know had leastways led him into no exaggeration.

From Project Gutenberg

Amplification, declamation, and exaggeration were at all times the faults of the Greeks, excepting Demosthenes and Aristotle.

From Project Gutenberg

Travellers speak of the speed of the bullet in describing their running—doubtless with some exaggeration.

From Project Gutenberg

The enthusiasm of the poet leads him into exaggeration whenever he comes to a wonder of Provence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• baloney
• excess
• fabrication
• falsehood
• fantasy
• hyperbole
• misjudgment
• misrepresentation
• untruth