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Synonyms

hyperbolize

American  
[hahy-pur-buh-lahyz] / haɪˈpɜr bəˌlaɪz /
especially British, hyperbolise

verb (used without object)

hyperbolized, hyperbolizing
  1. to use hyperbole; exaggerate.


verb (used with object)

hyperbolized, hyperbolizing
  1. to represent or express with hyperbole or exaggeration.

hyperbolize British  
/ haɪˈpɜːbəˌlaɪz /

verb

  1. to express (something) by means of hyperbole

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of hyperbolize

First recorded in 1590–1600; hyperbole + -ize

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.

See Examples For:

Those earlier visions hyperbolize the romance of cooking.

From Seattle Times Nov. 23, 2022

“It is impossible to hyperbolize what John Madden meant to generations of NFL fans,” NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah wrote on Twitter.

From Washington Post Dec. 28, 2021

An actor of lesser ability might hyperbolize, turn Lydia and Patti into caricatures of cultish evil and ideological zeal, but not Dowd.

From The Guardian Jun. 14, 2017

While the internet has the tendency to hyperbolize news in order to gain traffic, the public found the news so readily believable because the act of ghosting has permeated our culture.

From Salon Mar. 29, 2016

How often he had heard poor sufferers hyperbolize their suffering!

From Our Nervous Friends — Illustrating the Mastery of Nervousness by Carroll, Robert S.

When you discuss the hyperbolized figures in pro wrestling history, “Superstar” Billy Graham has to be in the conversation.

From Los Angeles Times May 18, 2023

This may be the fourth “Purge” film, but it’s the first that genuinely addresses some of the anxieties and frustrations unfolding in today’s America, albeit in its own dystopian, hyperbolized fashion.

From Washington Post Jul. 3, 2018

That's the hyperbolized version, but not by much.

From Slate Dec. 13, 2017

If Mr. Gold hyperbolized at work and drove press-bus drivers to distraction with his temper, he was apparently no better at home.

From New York Times Jun. 9, 2017

Its early stirrings are apparent in his letter to Pound: the sentences racing to match in number and variety the collections they describe, the grandiose gestures of self-deprecation, the hyperbolized confession of trifling sins.

From The New Yorker Mar. 13, 2017

Some of their most well-known bits, like “Computer Dating,” came from hyperbolizing their backgrounds, with Jerry emphasizing his Jewish roots and Anne accentuating her Irish-Catholic heritage.

From Salon Oct. 18, 2025

There’s less yammering and hyperbolizing, and McDonagh makes fine contrapuntal use of the landscape’s visual drama and of the chasm separating these characters.

From New York Times Jun. 30, 2022

The situation arouses pathos, which Leyner acknowledges before relentlessly hyperbolizing, satirizing and detonating the pathos.

From New York Times Jan. 19, 2021

What Diaz is hyperbolizing about -- and the alliance’s reason for being -- is what he considers an unfair subsidy for companies, such as Amazon.com Inc., that sell products over the Internet.

From BusinessWeek Jul. 26, 2011

Reported by Marsh Clark /Johannes burg and Roberto Suro/Washington * Reagan was hyperbolizing.

From Time Magazine Archive

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