exaggerated
Americanadjective
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unduly or unrealistically magnified.
to have an exaggerated opinion of oneself.
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abnormally increased or enlarged.
adjective
-
unduly or excessively magnified; enlarged beyond truth or reasonableness
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pathol abnormally enlarged
an exaggerated spleen
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exaggerated
First recorded in 1545–55; exaggerate + -ed 2
Explanation
Exaggerated describes something that's been overstated, or described as more impressive than it really is. Your exaggerated details stretched the truth, but they sure made your story funny and memorable. Something that is exaggerated is described as better or bigger than it actually is, like your exaggerated description of the terrible day you had. Exaggerated can also describe something that is oversized, like the exaggerated collar on a funky sweater. The original meaning of exaggerated, in the early 1500s, was "piled up or accumulated." To spell exaggerate correctly, think of bragger.
Vocabulary lists containing exaggerated
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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"Fine?" Vocabulary from the short story
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The Pigman
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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.
They suggest this may represent a medieval form of "fake news," or perhaps an exaggerated story intended to frighten people with warnings of divine punishment.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
Key details: The headline increase in wholesale prices was exaggerated by a large rise in a category known as retail trade margins that often gyrates sharply from month to month.
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
Innocuous as using the term “mother” to describe an actress may ultimately be, it has been proliferated in such an extreme and exaggerated way that the expression has sprinted past “bop” in terms of misuse.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
Anime’s visual attributes like large, expressive eyes, exaggerated hair and sharp lines look radically different from the typical Disney cartoon.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
The man turns to his co-anchor, his face twisted in exaggerated shock.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
