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hyperbolic

[hahy-per-bol-ik]
adjective
  1. having the nature of hyperbole; exaggerated.
  2. using hyperbole; exaggerating.
  3. Mathematics.
    1. of or relating to a hyperbola.
    2. derived from a hyperbola, as a hyperbolic function.
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Also hy·per·bol·i·cal.

Origin of hyperbolic

1640–50; hyperbole or hyperbol(a) + -ic
Related formshy·per·bol·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·hy·per·bol·ic, adjectivenon·hy·per·bol·i·cal, adjectivenon·hy·per·bol·i·cal·ly, adverbsem·i·hy·per·bol·ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hyperbolical

Historical Examples

  • Among Orientals all such titles are towering and hyperbolical.

    A Chesterton Calendar

    G. K. Chesterton

  • Quære, whether to say the sun is outshined be too bold and hyperbolical?

  • A hyperbolical way of speaking is mere flippancy, and should be avoided.

    Our Deportment

    John H. Young

  • He would have sneered at this strain in another as hyperbolical and fatuous.

    At Last

    Marion Harland

  • The Indian language is bold and figurative, abounding in hyperbolical expressions, and is said to be susceptible of much elegance.

British Dictionary definitions for hyperbolical

hyperbolic

hyperbolical

adjective
  1. of or relating to a hyperbola
  2. rhetoric of or relating to a hyperbole
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Derived Formshyperbolically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hyperbolical

hyperbolic

adj.

1640s (iperbolical is from early 15c.), from Greek hyperbolikos "extravagant," from hyperbole "extravagance," literally "a throwing beyond" (see hyperbole). Geometric sense is from 1670s. Related: Hyperbolically.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper