exaggerate
[ig-zaj-uh-reyt]
- to magnify beyond the limits of truth; overstate; represent disproportionately: to exaggerate the difficulties of a situation.
- to increase or enlarge abnormally: Those shoes exaggerate the size of my feet.
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- to employ exaggeration, as in speech or writing: a person who is always exaggerating.
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Origin of exaggerate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1. minimize.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
overdomagnifyfabricatedistortemphasizeinflatemisrepresentheightenfalsifyamplifyoverdrawoverestimateoveremphasizepyramidscamcolorcorruptfudgeliecaricatureExamples from the Web for exaggerate
Contemporary Examples
It should be noted that the Anti-Coup movement has been known to exaggerate facts and numbers.
Not to exaggerate, but it was the sexiest thing that has ever been on television.
Beyonce Gave the Best Grammy Awards Performance (And 8 More That Were Pretty Good, Too)Kevin Fallon
January 27, 2014
But things inspire you based on your personal experience, and then you exaggerate or incorporate other stories from friends.
Hårdh is careful not to exaggerate expectations, calling the new device a complement, not a cure.
Fame is known to exaggerate a character, and Oprah uses two examples: the humanitarian and the jerk.
Historical Examples
His pessimism about his play caused him to exaggerate the enormity of his offences.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
For to exaggerate with judgment one must begin by measuring with nicety.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
I do not exaggerate when I say that from end to end could not be discerned a single weed.
In the Heart of VosgesMatilda Betham-Edwards
All the exaggerations are right, if they exaggerate the right thing.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
I will not be so superfluous as to exaggerate the difficulty.
Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense MetaphysicsWilliam Thomas Thornton
exaggerate
- 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 usualhis new clothes exaggerated his awkwardness
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin exaggerāre to magnify, from aggerāre to heap, from agger heap
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for exaggerate
v.
1530s, "to pile up, accumulate," from Latin exaggeratus, past participle of exaggerare "heighten, amplify, magnify," literally "to heap, pile, load, fill," from ex- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + aggerare "heap up," from agger (genitive aggeris) "heap," from aggerere "bring together, carry toward," from ad- "to, toward" + gerere "carry" (see gest). Sense of "overstate" first recorded in English 1560s. Related: Exaggerated; exaggerating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper