exaggerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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exaggerates,
present (3rd person singular)
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exaggerated,
past participle, past
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exaggerating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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exaggerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exaggerated,
past participle, past
-
exaggerating
present participle
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:
These two categories often gyrate up and down and exaggerate changes in GDP.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Historians say Barton tends to cherry-pick quotes or exaggerate the Christian influence on America’s founding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Dalziel said: "She was a straightforward and calm witness. She did not exaggerate or embellish."
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
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
At the same time, though, we must be careful not to assume that differences exist when they do not, or to exaggerate the ones that do.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Mr. Futterman occasionally exaggerates his case with over-the-top prose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
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
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
As Close broke into laughter, Leger-Walker added, “I did. Maybe it was a couple of hours later, but I definitely returned her messages. She exaggerates that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
He exaggerates the difficulty of being a student, but his exaggeration reveals a general predicament.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
At an invitation-only gathering of dozens of America’s top executives in Washington this week, business leaders overwhelmingly disagreed with the president’s assessment that dangers posed by artificial intelligence are being exaggerated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
“He certainly exaggerated things,” said Damian Merlo, a Miami-based consultant who worked with Cerimedo on the 2023 campaign of Argentine President Javier Milei, a Trump favorite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
The Tates’ lawyers said their social-media presence was intentionally exaggerated for their audience, including claims of being “trillionaires.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
We get to see a different side of Paul Baker this season with his other friend group, who embody this exaggerated, bro-y masculinity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
Anna May feigned offense, then tipped up her chin and said with exaggerated loftiness, “And actually, I was one of just three lantern holders.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
What I was saying before is that they were exaggerating the threat.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
The former chair of the education faculty has also faced accusations of fabricating or exaggerating elements of his CV.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Some economists question if the pattern is repeating itself, thus exaggerating the improvement in the labor market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Conductors love to play “Pulcinella” for goofy laughs, exaggerating trombone glissandi and the like, relishing guffaws from the audience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
I am not exaggerating: composers of the second half of the nineteenth century really did believe that this was their role.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
