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:
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
Several insurers have filed racketeering lawsuits against Liakas for allegedly conspiring with doctors to fabricate and exaggerate injuries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
A new study provides yet more evidence that investors exaggerate the forecasting ability of artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
It was indeed in the Spanish interest to exaggerate the extent of human sacrifice, because ending what Cortes called this “most horrid and abominable custom” became a post hoc rationale for conquest.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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
The Donroe doctrine also exaggerates the importance of natural resources.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Tech’s dominance in the S&P 500, with the top 10 stocks comprising 40% of market value, exaggerates the current pullback.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
Musk often exaggerates the abilities of the so-called Full Self-Driving mode available in Teslas, which cannot function without a human driver present.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2025
He exaggerates the difficulty of being a student, but his exaggeration reveals a general predicament.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Reports of his retirement had been greatly exaggerated.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
The fairest answer is that he was partly right, for reasons he did not fully understand, and he exaggerated the promise.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Reports of the book’s obsolescence were already exaggerated.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
And even away from the exaggerated adversarialism online, there are plenty of people worried that Britain is gripped by uncontrollable rage.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
They closed the door behind them with exaggerated, perhaps even satirical, care, and at the moment they released the handle Emily picked up her spoon and the company followed her.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Given the prevalence of such changes, though, others are likely exaggerating their experience, he said: “A lot of it looks like AI washing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“His kind of self-mythologizing and exaggerating is part of what makes his youth so interesting.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Some economists question if the pattern is repeating itself, thus exaggerating the improvement in the labor market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 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
Lafayette Baker also published a book about the manhunt, exaggerating his role in the chase for Booth.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
