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

Schultz declined to respond to the litany of accusations, calling them exaggerations and mischaracterizations. —Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 24 Jan. 2026

The assumption was that exaggeration would repel. —Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026

Some may shrug off the figure of 100 million as an example of Trumpian exaggeration spilling into the ranks of the government’s social-media posters. —Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026

While some of his bold claims have come true, others have gone down as vast exaggerations or outright lies. —Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 20 Jan. 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