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

Relevance

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
  • The 20% off everything Fall Design Event also includes brand favorites, such as the Baywood quilt, which features a hand-pick stitching pattern that enhances its tactile quality.
    — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The monitor's Black Equalizer feature ensures that even the darkest shadows are visible, and HDR10 enhances highlights for eye-popping color.
    — George Yang, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of enhances
Verb
  • Translating the team’s shooting numbers into a claim about Reese personally shutting down opponents overstates what those numbers establish.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • By any account, the description overstates Lukas’ employment status.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 6 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
  • Even without their local ties, Gash are a shoe-in at Eaux Claires, the Wisconsin music festival founded by Justin Vernon that expands on the experimental curiosity and unhurried approach at the heart of Bon Iver’s latter career.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The presentation comes as Netflix separately expands its AI ambitions, including its acquisition of Ben Affleck’s filmmaking technology company InterPositive.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 13 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
  • Dark clouds swirl across a sky speckled with stars as the Milky Way stretches above the European Space Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The continent stretches from the Arctic almost to the tropics.
    — Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of stretches

Browse Nearby Words

exaggerated
exaggerates
exaggerating
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Exaggerates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exaggerates. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All