sensationalize

as in to exaggerate
disapproving to describe or show something in a way that makes it seem more shocking than it really is Journalists should report the news accurately without trying to sensationalize it.

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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 sensationalize Without social media, television or telephones of any kind, Willig illustrates how this trial became sensationalized and angry crowds swayed public opinion — the 19th-century version of canceling. Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2025 Some conservative groups in South Africa have misrepresented facts about farm murders, sensationalizing them by fixating on exceptionally violent cases and promoting the idea that all farm murders are politically and racially motivated. Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025 Burnett’s early films have been credited for their honest rendering of Black working-class life in Los Angeles, a milieu rarely shown, or at best sensationalized, by Hollywood. Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2025 But the Labor Department itself responded to the report at the time that the claims were these same pseudo records, and that mischaracterizing them risked sensationalizing the aid program. Emily Badger, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sensationalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sensationalize
exaggerate
Verb
  • Second, the extent of the controversies has often been exaggerated: a handful of Trump supporters have stuck their heads above the parapet, the media have sniffed drama and written up stories about friction, and nothing has ultimately changed.
    Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 27 June 2025
  • Opponents of burnout argue that burnout researchers exaggerate that burnout is a condition of epidemic magnitude.
    Lieke ten Brummelhuis, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sensationalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sensationalize. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.

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