hyperbole
noun
Did you know?
In the 5th century B.C.E. there was a rabble-rousing Athenian politician named Hyperbolus. Since Hyperbolus is known to history as a demagogue, i.e. “a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power,” one might be tempted to assume that his name played a role in the development of the modern English word hyperbole, but that's not the case. Although that noun does come to us from Greek (by way of Latin), it does so instead from the Greek verb hyperballein, meaning “to exceed,” which itself was formed from hyper-, meaning “beyond,” and ballein, “to throw.” Hyperbolus may have preferred to take the undeserved credit, of course.
Did you know?
How is hyperbole pronounced—and why?
This word doesn't behave the way we expect a word that's spelled this way to behave. It begins with the prefix hyper-, which we know in words like hyperlink (and in the adjective hyper itself), but instead of having the accent, or emphasis, on the first syllable—HYE-per-link—it has the accent on the second syllable: hye-PER-buh-lee. And then there's that bole. It should sound just like the word bowl, right? Nope. Instead it's two syllables: \buh-lee\ .
The word comes to English directly from Latin, but the Latin word is from a Greek word that has one crucial visual difference. It has a line, called a macron, over the final e: hyperbolē. The macron tells us that the vowel is pronounced like \ee\ .
The fact that hyperbole is pronounced in a way counter to the usual workings of English pronunciation gives a hint as to the word's history in the language. Although these days you might encounter hyperbole in a magazine at the doctor's office, the word's first use was technical. It's from the field of rhetoric, which makes it at home with terms like metaphor, trope, and litotes. And speaking of litotes (pronounced \LYE-tuh-teez\ ), that term is an approximate antonym of hyperbole. It refers to understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negation of the contrary, as in "not a bad idea" or "not unpleasant."
Examples of hyperbole in a Sentence
Rebecca Boyle, Discover Magazine, 24 July 2019
Four decades later we're all blabbermouths, adrift on a sea of hyperbole, shouting to be heard.
—Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated, 1 Apr. 2002
… balanced on the razor edge of anachronism, creating a rich stew of accepted and invented history, anecdote, myth and hyperbole.
—T. Coraghessan Boyle, New York Times Book Review, 18 May 1997
“Enough food to feed a whole army” is a common example of hyperbole.
Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 19 June 2025
Instead, political hyperbole became the university’s parting message to its students.
—Isabella Brannon, FOXNews.com, 18 June 2025
For one, hyperbole makes for great political theater, and that’s always welcome when fending off challengers for your job.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 12 June 2025
Trump’s hyperbole continued in a fundraising appeal to his supporters Tuesday.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hyperbole
Cite this Entry
“Hyperbole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hyperbole. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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hyperbole
noun
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