exaggerate
verb
ex·ag·ger·ate
ig-ˈza-jə-ˌrāt 
exaggerated; exaggerating
1
: to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth : overstate
a friend exaggerates a man's virtues—
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison2
: to enlarge or increase especially beyond the normal : overemphasize
: to make an overstatement
Examples of exaggerate in a Sentence
The book exaggerates the difficulties he faced in starting his career.
It's impossible to exaggerate the importance of this discovery.
He tends to exaggerate when talking about his accomplishments.
He exaggerated his movements so we could see them more clearly.
Recent Examples on the Web
Critics have also said that political portrayals of Antifa as a unified or centrally directed domestic terror group exaggerate its organization and influence.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Machado also pushed back on suggestions that Venezuela’s role in drug trafficking had been exaggerated to support the argument of those calling for regime change.
—Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025
Blazy exaggerated the frayed hems that Coco Chanel loved into ragged edges by letting the cloth be overtaken slowly with tiny hanging strings of beads.
—Nathan Heller, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2025
On busy days Glass sometimes skipped lunch, which exaggerated the swings in his blood glucose levels.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exaggerate
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Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Machado also pushed back on suggestions that Venezuela’s role in drug trafficking had been exaggerated to support the argument of those calling for regime change.
—Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025
Blazy exaggerated the frayed hems that Coco Chanel loved into ragged edges by letting the cloth be overtaken slowly with tiny hanging strings of beads.
—Nathan Heller, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2025
On busy days Glass sometimes skipped lunch, which exaggerated the swings in his blood glucose levels.
—Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exaggerate
Cite this Entry
“Exaggerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exaggerate. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
exaggerate
verb
ex·ag·ger·ate
ig-ˈzaj-ə-ˌrāt
exaggerated; exaggerating
: to enlarge a fact or statement beyond what is actual or true
exaggeratedly
adverb
-ˌrāt-əd-lē
exaggeratedness
noun
-nəs
Etymology
from Latin exaggeratus "exaggerate," from exaggerare, literally, "to heap up"
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