exaggerate

verb ex·ag·ger·ate \ ig-ˈza-jə-ˌrāt \

Definition of exaggerate

exaggerated; exaggerating

transitive verb

1 :to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth :overstate

a friend exaggerates a man's virtues
—Joseph Addison

2 :to enlarge or increase especially beyond the normal :overemphasize

intransitive verb

:to make an overstatement

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exaggeratedly

adverb

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exaggeratedness

noun

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exaggeration

play \ig-ˌza-jə-ˈrā-shən\ noun

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exaggerative

play \ig-ˈza-jə-ˌrā-tiv, -ˈzaj-rə-tiv, -ˈza-jə-rə-tiv\ adjective

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exaggerator

play \ig-ˈza-jə-ˌrā-tər\ noun

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exaggeratory

play \ig-ˈzaj-rə-ˌtȯr-ē, -ˈza-jə-\ adjective

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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 of exaggerate from the Web

A health care analyst for the left-leaning American Bridge said that McConnell and Trump have exaggerated the demise of insurance markets.

— grace schneider, The Courier-Journal, "Speaking in Louisville, McConnell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin talk economic policies," 21 Aug. 2017
Together, Trump and Sessions exaggerate the threat posed by immigrants.

— politifact, Teen Vogue, "4 Times Trump and His Cabinet Have Lied About Immigration," 16 Aug. 2017
Patrick and other supporters of the legislation say the projections in Texas and the impact in North Carolina have been vastly exaggerated.

— david montgomery, star-telegram, "Time is running out on Texas ‘bathroom bill’," 8 Aug. 2017
IS and other militant groups often exaggerate their claims of casualties inflicted in attacks.

— Bloomberg.com, "The Latest: Afghanistan Says 2 Iraq Embassy Staff Killed," 31 July 2017
Her work embraces imperfections, exaggerating physical flaws as instances of beauty.

— tiffany jow, The Cut, "The Agony and Ecstasy of Being a New York Woman," 30 July 2017
This may dissuade holidaymakers from exaggerating an iffy tummy into a claim.

— The Economist, "Holiday cons“Puke for payout”, the scam making holiday firms sick," 20 July 2017
But since then, a wide range of CMS audits and other reviews have found that Medicare wastes billions of tax dollars annually because some health plans inflate risk scores by exaggerating how sick their patients are.

— fred schulte, Kaiser Health News, "Fraud And Billing Mistakes Cost Medicare — And Taxpayers — Tens Of Billions Last Year," 19 July 2017
Most were probably exaggerating, at least a little bit.

— matthew martinez, star-telegram, "Kendrick Lamar gave a disabled Dallas fan a life-changing gift after latest tour stop," 17 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exaggerate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of exaggerate

Latin exaggeratus, past participle of exaggerare, literally, to heap up, from ex- + agger heap, from aggerere to carry toward, from ad- + gerere to carry

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First Known Use: 1613

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