exaggerate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to regard or represent as larger or greater, more important or more successful, etc, than is true
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(tr) to make greater, more noticeable, etc, than usual
his new clothes exaggerated his awkwardness
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exaggerationnoun
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exaggeratornoun
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overexaggerateverb
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exaggerativeadjective
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nonexaggeratingadjective
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unexaggeratingadjective
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exaggeratinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exaggeratesimple
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exaggeratessimple
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have exaggeratedperfect
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has exaggeratedperfect
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am exaggeratingprogressive
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are exaggeratingprogressive
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is exaggeratingprogressive
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have been exaggeratingperfect progressive
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has been exaggeratingperfect progressive
Past
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exaggeratedsimple
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had exaggeratedperfect
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was exaggeratingprogressive
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were exaggeratingprogressive
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had been exaggeratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exaggerate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin exaggerātus “heaped up,” past participle of exaggerāre “to heap up,” from ex- ex- 1 + agger “heap” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
Explanation
When you exaggerate you stretch the truth. Fishermen tend to exaggerate the size of their fish. And children tend to exaggerate the seriousness of their cuts in order to get cute Band-Aids. We all have a tendency to exaggerate. It makes our stories funnier, or more dramatic. After all, when you exaggerate, you're not really lying — you're just overstating things. The word exaggerate can also suggest that a particular characteristic is overdone or almost larger than life. If you describe someone as having an exaggerated limp, he or she might be walking like a gorilla.
Vocabulary lists containing exaggerate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In climate data, "noise" refers to short-erm temperature changes that can temporarily hide or exaggerate the underlying trend.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
All of these categories can distort or exaggerate GDP for reasons that have little to do with the health of the overall economy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
And I think it was interesting to try and find levels to it and to have the audience come with you, but not dramatize or exaggerate an emotion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
He may exaggerate about the toothaches, but the city routinely deploys firefighting crews to respond to 911 medical calls that could be handled by emergency medical technicians at much lower cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Harry had told me that Bach should be played very softly, and very loudly, to exaggerate the phrasing, because the pieces themselves are so ordered that the emotion needs to come through in the playing.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
One factor reinforcing Block’s motivation for shorting credit is his opinion that there is too much passive investing in the market that automatically exaggerates moves when they come.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
Divided by competing urges to “join in and stand out,” the dandy exaggerates style to the point of satire and social impertinence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Tech’s overwhelming dominance of the S&P 500, where the top 10 stocks in the market comprise around 40% of its market value, and crucially a third of its collective earnings, exaggerates the ongoing pullback.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
The self-proclaimed "Chief Troll Officer" often exaggerates in an ambiguous way, unclear if he's being sincere or ironic.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2024
He exaggerates the difficulty of being a student, but his exaggeration reveals a general predicament.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Oscar De Mello, who helps run The Shed in Bristol which uses MoCap technology, said being one of those performers was a unique skillset, often having to use bigger, more exaggerated movements.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Reports of the book’s obsolescence were already exaggerated.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Soprano Elizabeth Novella was a monochromatic Donna Anna, and exaggerated rubato often made her impassioned outbursts sag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Some of his allegations were already known; others he gave no evidence for or exaggerated beyond recognition.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
But it turned out the notion that being a middle kid was a form of child abuse was greatly exaggerated.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
"They've scored 60% of their goals that way," Klopp said of the Gunners - exaggerating for effect.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Some economists question if the pattern is repeating itself, thus exaggerating the improvement in the labor market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Ballmer, a former long-time CEO of Microsoft, accused Sanberg of targeting him for his well-known interest in environmental sustainability and exaggerating their relationship to convince others to invest in the fraudulent company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
EU prosecutors first detailed the scam last May, accusing subsidy beneficiaries of making claims for land that they did not own and exaggerating the number of animals on farms.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
And so she appeased Tochi, putting America down, talking only about the things she, too, disliked about America, exaggerating her non-American accent, until the conversation became an enervating charade.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
