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 of exaggeration

• caricature
• hyperbole
• stretching
• enhancement
• overstatement
• coloring

Examples of exaggeration in a Sentence

their exaggeration was such that a rainstorm became a hurricane

Recent Examples on the Web

Hite rarely entertained the possibility that people might be answering her questionnaire on a particularly bad day, or that anonymity might encourage exaggeration. —Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Rumors exploded across social media − claims of landmarks burning, wholesale chaos and breathless exaggeration. —Michael McCarter, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026

But Chan also claimed to have ties to Asian gangs, at one point asked Kim to help him get rid of a body and spoke about killing other students, which Chan came to see as lies or exaggerations. —Sean Emery, Oc Register, 27 Feb. 2026

Okay, that may be an exaggeration. —Pete Hammond, Deadline, 27 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for exaggeration

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration