exaggerate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
exaggerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exaggerated,
past participle, past
-
exaggerating
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
exaggerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exaggerated,
past participle, past
-
exaggerating
present participle
verb
-
to regard or represent as larger or greater, more important or more successful, etc, than is true
-
(tr) to make greater, more noticeable, etc, than usual
his new clothes exaggerated his awkwardness
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
exaggerationnoun
-
exaggeratornoun
-
overexaggerateverb
-
exaggerativeadjective
-
nonexaggeratingadjective
-
unexaggeratingadjective
-
exaggeratinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
exaggeratesimple
-
exaggeratessimple
-
have exaggeratedperfect
-
has exaggeratedperfect
-
am exaggeratingprogressive
-
are exaggeratingprogressive
-
is exaggeratingprogressive
-
have been exaggeratingperfect progressive
-
has been exaggeratingperfect progressive
Past
-
exaggeratedsimple
-
had exaggeratedperfect
-
was exaggeratingprogressive
-
were exaggeratingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
"But its expanding uses also reveal how people are responding to that impulse. Some embrace it. Some exaggerate it for laughs. Others subvert it entirely to describe stepping back from the relentless pursuit of more."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
That said, I don’t want to exaggerate what’s happened to me so far.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Mr. Stallone does not minimize the pain his parents caused him, nor does he exaggerate the effort required to get past it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
These two categories often gyrate up and down and exaggerate changes in GDP.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
The conjurer said, “My word, Reverend, you didn’t exaggerate in the least. I think little Ahbo will fit very nicely into our family.”
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
The bigger this ratio, the more extreme the moves can be as leverage exaggerates them.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 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
Dr Simon Williams at Swansea University now thinks health authorities have to be clearer about the dangers of some infectious diseases, in the face of online misinformation which often exaggerates the small risk of vaccines.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2025
He exaggerates the difficulty of being a student, but his exaggeration reveals a general predicament.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
He highlighted how exaggerated some moves were in the most popular hedge fund longs and shorts and pointed to it being the second-most volatile day of the year for this class of stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
Colombian deputy environment minister David Olarte Amaya, who is attending the summit, said the concerns about his country were exaggerated.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
American experts who work with the Saudi military say stories of disgruntlement among the military are exaggerated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
But negative sentiment about the UK market - which was often exaggerated - had contributed to companies leaving in the past, she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
I added my own exaggerated details of how many people had to restrain her, without any mention of how frightened I’d been, and how ashamed I’d felt when she lost control in front of everybody.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
“We have record high businesses that have gone out of business, bankruptcies, businesses that are leaving, family bankruptcies are at an all-time high,” Drazan said, exaggerating some.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
The allegations in these indictments apparently are that they went beyond exaggerating the threats and actually supported these organizations to make them bigger threats so they could then monitor them or do whatever they did.
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
“Everything we knew is now supposed to be wrong,” he added, exaggerating a little for effect.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
