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

• caricature
• coloring
• elaboration
• embellishment
• embroidering
• embroidery
• hyperbole
• magnification
• overstatement
• padding
• stretching

Examples of exaggeration in a Sentence

their exaggeration was such that a rainstorm became a hurricane

Recent Examples on the Web

Then the Niners, trailing by five with 2:10 to play, could only muster one play before Purdy, who spent much of this game running for his life — and that’s barely an exaggeration — threw an interception without a 49ers receiver in the vicinity. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2024

This isn’t an exaggeration: In one study, women living with home clutter were actually found to have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. —Christina Pérez, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2024

While that’s an exaggeration, it’s been reported many times over that the youth aren’t drinking like past generations—data published by the International Wine and Spirits Record in May found that 54% of Gen Z consumers of legal drinking age have abstained from alcohol in the past six months. —Emily Wilson, Bon Appétit, 16 Dec. 2024

His margin was under 1.5%, making the claims from the Trump campaign of an historic mandate a clear exaggeration. —Karlyn Bowman, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above