exaggerated

adjective

ex·​ag·​ger·​at·​ed ig-ˈza-jə-ˌrā-təd 

1

: excessively or inappropriately heightened, inflated, or overstated

exaggerated fears

a wildly exaggerated story

As students go from one disconnected course to the next, they tend to form a highly exaggerated idea of the differences between teachers and subjects.

—Gerald Graff

2

: enlarged or increased beyond the normal : greater than normal

… many people have an unusual or exaggerated response to a drug, but they are not necessarily allergic to the drug.

—Paul D. Buisseret

exaggeratedly adverb

… my own view of the art of architecture—a view that many people (including many architects) would perhaps consider an exaggeratedly lofty one.

—Brendan Gill

Koenig's movements were brisk, exaggeratedly optimistic.

—Nick Paumgarten

exaggeratedness noun

… we often do not respond to exaggeration by simply pointing out its exaggeratedness …

—Julie Kuhlken

Synonyms

• bloated
• hyperbolized
• inflated
• outsize
• outsized
• overblown
• overdrawn
• overweening

Examples of exaggerated in a Sentence

loves the exaggerated emotions that are part and parcel of grand opera

Recent Examples on the Web

Consumers worldwide don’t trust company sustainability claims thanks to reports like the one that found 42% of green claims made online by companies were exaggerated, false or deceptive. —Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 25 Oct. 2024

But Aurora's police chief and its mayor, Mike Coffman, a Republican, told NBC News last month that Trump’s claims about the gang are grossly exaggerated. —Julia Ainsley, NBC News, 23 Oct. 2024

Her predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, downplayed the problem of violence in Chiapas, saying that reports of rising crime in the southern state were exaggerated. —Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2024

For the third and final phase, Côté created a wig that was fuller with a more exaggerated front, closer to the Trump that became ubiquitous in the media of the late 1980s. —Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of exaggerate

First Known Use

circa 1632, in the meaning defined at sense 1