exaggeration

noun

ex·​ag·​ger·​a·​tion ig-ˌza-jə-ˈrā-shən 

plural exaggerations

: an act or instance of exaggerating something : overstatement of the truth

She told us what happened without exaggeration.

: a statement that exaggerates something

a report filled with exaggerations and outright lies

But it's no exaggeration to say that this car has been one of the major linchpins of the burgeoning Asian hot-rod phenomenon.

—Tony Swan

Scads of fibs, exaggerations and misleading statements have been swept up in the dragnet …

—James Poniewozik

Synonyms

• caricature
• coloring
• elaboration
• embellishment
• embroidering
• embroidery
• hyperbole
• magnification
• overstatement
• padding
• stretching

Examples of exaggeration in a Sentence

their exaggeration was such that a rainstorm became a hurricane

Recent Examples on the Web

There has been some exaggeration in how bad Biden’s poll numbers actually are. —Philip Klinkner, The Conversation, 9 July 2024

The subtitle is a major exaggeration: Little in this book is new or untold, as is evident from Crawford’s nine-page bibliography. —Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 4 July 2024

By contrast, Trump was poised, loud, and forcefully stated his self-serving lies (fact-checkers found many) and exaggerations. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 1 July 2024

Listen carefully and refuse to let exaggeration and inflated emotions seep into a situation or encounter. —Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 4 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above