exaggerates

verb

present tense third-person singular of exaggerate
1
as in enhances
to add to the interest of by including made-up details the American colonist John Smith is believed by many historians to have exaggerated his adventures

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in overstates
to describe or express in too strong terms it would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of this entrance exam

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of exaggerates Armour points to two recent plays, one involving Chelsea Gray and another involving Kiah Stokes, as proof that Clark exaggerates contact and creates false narratives about opposing players. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 July 2026 The best place to start is a sporting culture that exaggerates accomplishments and rewards capitalistic success before the sporting variety. — Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026 One sure focus is the rampant grade inflation that exaggerates student achievement and has made graduating high school close to meaningless as an indicator of college preparedness. — U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2026 Drama hides a hero’s flaws; comedy exaggerates it. — Marta Balaga, Variety, 25 June 2026 Tristan Baker, head of performance at Go Perform, an athletics performance and coaching facility, and a former strength and conditioning coach at Reading, believes a still photograph exaggerates how unstable the movement appears. — Amelie Claydon, New York Times, 17 June 2026 Perry has recently favored footwear that exaggerates a familiar evening shape. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 13 June 2026 The case drew widespread attention because Dee Dee was suspected of having Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse in which a caregiver exaggerates, fabricates or induces illness in someone under their care. — Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 11 June 2026 Dehydration exaggerates creases and makes skin look less supple. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exaggerates
  1. enhances
  2. overstates
  3. colors
  4. overdoes
  5. expands
  6. pads
  7. embellishes
  8. stretches
Verb
  • All of the following prices include destination fees Redesigned for the 2026 model year, the latest Outback has a boxier look that enhances the utility for which Subarus are well known.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Future Society’s Base Scent is an innovative deodorant-fragrance hybrid that enhances your personal scent to make your body smell good on its own.
    — Gina Vaynshteyn, StyleCaster, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of enhances
Verb
  • By any account, the description overstates Lukas’ employment status.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Apply the blended figure to a queue that no longer contains any simple work, and the model overstates savings before the deployment has processed a single contact.
    — Antony P Gregory, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of overstates
Verb
  • Dyes such as indigo, for example, which colors your favorite blue jeans, are actually intended to fade and will do so throughout the life of the garment.
    — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 30 Aug. 2026
  • That history still colors how the company talks, less like a supplement label and more like a couple of people who have been through it.
    — Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 17 July 2026
Definition of colors
Verb
  • Her direction here wisely emphasizes the actors, and possibly overdoes it with the mirrors — lotta symbolically reflective surfaces and isolating frames within frames — but there’s never the sensation that the person behind the camera is winging it.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2026
  • Alexander’s staging occasionally overdoes the comic exuberance.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Definition of overdoes
Verb
  • In April 2026, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee found that advanced AI had not yet been adopted in a way that presented systemic risk but warned that risks could increase rapidly as deployment expands.
    — Swati Deepak Kumar, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The new law expands California’s definition of who is a resident under state sales tax law in an effort to weed out phony shell companies, making a company liable for state taxes when at least one member of the business is a California resident.
    — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of expands
Verb
  • In other words, the additional money that our companies are shelling out to cover higher memory costs ultimately pads these three companies’ bottom lines.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 21 June 2026
  • Adding the killer’s voice just pads an already too-long book.
    — Maren Longbella, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
Definition of pads
Verb
  • The material also embellishes the interior, where the center armrest, speaker covers, window buttons, and gear shift are among the areas of application.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 30 June 2026
  • It’s also been cited as what’s wrong with basketball, as he’s been labeled a player who embellishes contact, resulting in opportunities at the free-throw line.
    — Jason Jones, New York Times, 24 May 2026
Definition of embellishes
Verb
  • That realization became one of many while crafting a series on a book that spans 50 years and stretches across the country but that Kazan insists is built on the characters, rather than spectacle.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Highway 1 stretches 656 miles from Leggett in Mendocino County to Dana Point in Orange County.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of stretches

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exaggerates
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Cite this Entry

“Exaggerates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exaggerates. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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