hyperbolic
Americanadjective
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having the nature of hyperbole; exaggerated.
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using hyperbole; exaggerating.
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Mathematics.
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of or relating to a hyperbola.
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derived from a hyperbola, as a hyperbolic function.
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adjective
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of or relating to a hyperbola
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rhetoric of or relating to a hyperbole
Other Word Forms
- hyperbolically adverb
- nonhyperbolic adjective
- nonhyperbolical adjective
- nonhyperbolically adverb
- semihyperbolic adjective
Etymology
Origin of hyperbolic
1640–50; hyperbole or hyperbol(a) + -ic
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.
Critics say the marketing—including claims that 20 minutes equals four hours in the gym—is hyperbolic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Horror is filled with trend-hopping and mimicry — the genre itself holds a mirror to our cultural anxieties, replicating them with chilling, hyperbolic intensity.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
It also applies to hyperbolic geometries, which are commonly used in theoretical physics and modern models of spacetime.
From Science Daily • Jan. 7, 2026
Government scientists found Schuchard’s prose hyperbolic, but the public ate it up.
From Slate • Dec. 23, 2025
But it spilled out into the open, setting off a series of events that even by the hyperbolic standards of Texas became quite incredible.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
