hyperbole
Americannoun
-
obvious and intentional exaggeration.
-
an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”
- Synonyms:
- overstatement
- Antonyms:
- understatement
noun
Usage
What is hyperbole? Hyperbole is an intentional, obvious exaggeration, such as I hit that dang piñata a million times before it broke.Hyperbole is not supposed to be taken literally. The reader or listener is supposed to know that the user of hyperbole is joking or not being serious, as in It took them forever to finally finish raking the leaves.The adjective form of hyperbole is hyperbolic, as in My grandfather often told me hyperbolic stories of walking 30 miles to go to school. The opposite of hyperbole is litotes, an intentional understatement, as in Leonardo da Vinci was not bad at painting.
Other Word Forms
- hyperbolism noun
Etymology
Origin of hyperbole
First recorded in 1520–30; from Greek hyperbolḗ “excess, exaggeration, a throwing beyond,” equivalent to hyper- hyper- + bolḗ “a throw”
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.
There are signs that the public is tiring of his hyperbole and insatiable desire for retribution.
And yet it is precisely a lack of hyperbole or hysteria—a quieting control, one might say — that makes it so moving.
“Millions is hyperbole,” his sister warned, though she too was getting hungry.
From Literature
It verged on hyperbole—that is to say, wild exaggeration—to call him a “noted expert,” as he was really just a simple country veterinarian.
From Literature
The primary contribution of Mr. Crais’s book to a rapidly growing literature is its hyperbole—we still lack a book that draws together a comprehensive picture of a world remade by guns.
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.
