- past participle of exaggerate.
- past tense form of exaggerate.
exaggerated
Americanadjective
-
unduly or unrealistically magnified.
to have an exaggerated opinion of oneself.
-
abnormally increased or enlarged.
adjective
-
unduly or excessively magnified; enlarged beyond truth or reasonableness
-
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.
Riedels and Mericle find numerous ways in which these extra costs have been miscaptured or exaggerated and conclude that “most of the 20 basis points contribution to core PCE from this category reflects mismeasurement.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
She added that "we won't need to AI it" - a reference to a TUV councillor who posted online an AI image which exaggerated the size of a loyalist rally in Portadown.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Yet, Pattinson is so exaggerated, so commedia dell’awful, that if the real Chris Hansen doesn’t sue, it’ll be because he’s calculated that no one would seriously believe this is him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
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
Even by the standards of Wall Street villains whose character flaws wind up being exaggerated to fit the crime, Cassano, in the retelling, became a cartoon monster.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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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.
