exaggeration

[ig-zaj-uh-rey-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of exaggerating or overstating.

2. an instance of exaggerating; an overstatement.

   His statement concerning the size of his income is a gross exaggeration.

Other Word Forms

• nonexaggeration noun
• overexaggeration noun
• self-exaggeration noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of exaggeration¹

1555–65; < Latin exaggerātiōn- (stem of exaggerātiō ), equivalent to exaggerāt ( us ) ( exaggerate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

It’s no exaggeration to say that it might turn out to be the most monumental decision of the entire college football season.

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But they’ve also struggled enough that it’s no exaggeration to say they could easily have a losing record by now.

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Looking back, it wasn’t much of an exaggeration when that ReplayTV executive told us in 1999 that five years hence, all TV would be watched from a hard disk.

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A lawyer for the Angels said in a pretrial hearing that the plaintiffs now seek a judgment of $1 billion, although the lead attorney representing the family said the number is an exaggeration.

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A cartoon version of Jenny Schecter come to life, what transpires in her novel is close, if not on the nose, to what takes place around her, buffered by changed names and literary exaggerations.

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Related Words

• baloney 
• excess 
• fabrication 
• falsehood 
• fantasy 
• hyperbole 
• misjudgment www.thesaurus.com
• misrepresentation 
• untruth