Exaggerate
verb
To describe something as larger or greater than it really is.
Don't exaggerate, it wasn't that scary.
Often appears as...
- exaggerate the truth
- exaggerate the facts
verb
To make something appear more important or serious than it really is.
She tends to exaggerate her problems.
Often appears as...
- exaggerate the problem
- exaggerate the effect
verb
To describe something as larger or greater than it really is.
Don't exaggerate, it wasn't that scary.
Often appears as...
- exaggerate the truth
- exaggerate the facts
verb
To make something appear more important or serious than it really is.
She tends to exaggerate her problems.
Often appears as...
- exaggerate the problem
- exaggerate the effect
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Non-literal Usage
Often used non-literally for humorous or dramatic effect.
He claimed he waited for hours, but he tends to exaggerate.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Context
Used to express strong feelings rather than factual accuracy.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse — don't take it literally, I'm exaggerating.
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Perception
Be aware some cultures may not understand or appreciate exaggeration.
In some cultures, saying a bag weighs a ton might be taken seriously.
Pro Tip 1/3Non-literal Usage
Often used non-literally for humorous or dramatic effect.
He claimed he waited for hours, but he tends to exaggerate.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Context
Used to express strong feelings rather than factual accuracy.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse — don't take it literally, I'm exaggerating.
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Perception
Be aware some cultures may not understand or appreciate exaggeration.
In some cultures, saying a bag weighs a ton might be taken seriously.
Pro Tip 1/3Non-literal Usage
Often used non-literally for humorous or dramatic effect.
He claimed he waited for hours, but he tends to exaggerate.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Context
Used to express strong feelings rather than factual accuracy.
I'm so hungry I could eat a horse — don't take it literally, I'm exaggerating.
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Perception
Be aware some cultures may not understand or appreciate exaggeration.
In some cultures, saying a bag weighs a ton might be taken seriously.
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Video examples
The design of the...
which is actually incredibly uniform. The universe is almost a perfect sphere, but there are these very tiny variations which we show here in great exaggeration. And from them in the time sequence we're going to have to go from these tiny variations to these irregular galaxies and first stars
Video examples
If I should have a...
The poem was very indignant, and mainly exaggerated, but the only spoken-word poetry that I had seen up until that point was mainly indignant, so I thought that's what was expected of me. The first time that I performed, the audience of teenagers hooted and hollered their sympathy,
Video examples
How not to be ignorant...
What happens next is news, okay? An excellent journalist knows how to pick the story that will make headlines, and people will read it because it's sensational. Unusual events are more interesting, no? And they are exaggerated, and especially things we're afraid of.
Video examples
Rory Stewart: Time to...
to build their hospitals and schools. It's also very difficult to confront a general with medals on his chest. It's very difficult for a politician, because you're afraid that many lives have been lost in vain. You feel deep, deep guilt. You exaggerate your fears,
Video examples
Understanding the rise...
maybe that's an exaggeration. But there's another problem which goes along with this -- that Europe is increasingly out of touch with the world -- and that is a sort of loss of a sense of the future. I mean, Europe once, of course, once commanded the future
Video examples
Why is Vermeer's "Girl...
also emphasizes the worldliness of the merchant class, and the pearl itself, a symbol of wealth, is actually an exaggeration. Vermeer couldn't have afforded a real pearl of its size. It was likely just a glass or tin drop varnished to look like a pearl.
Video examples
Tim Laman & Ed Scholes:...
females look very different than the males they are brown much more subtly colored not nearly as an ostentatious or exaggerated but females play a very important role in the evolution of birds-of-paradise this is the courtship display area of a
Video examples
Why are we so attached...
where almost everything is shared. At the other extreme, sometimes our attachment to our things can go too far. Part of the cause of hoarding disorder is an exaggerated sense of responsibility and protectiveness toward one's belongings.
Video examples
Poetry makes people...
word poetry and it is without an ounce of exaggeration that I say my whole world changed probably the most substantial evidence is the way that I've been able to share poetry farther and farther away from home since giving
Video examples
The power of women's...
throughout my life, I've always been led to understand that my anger is an exaggeration, a misrepresentation, that it will make me rude and unlikable.
Video examples
The design of the...
which is actually incredibly uniform. The universe is almost a perfect sphere, but there are these very tiny variations which we show here in great exaggeration. And from them in the time sequence we're going to have to go from these tiny variations to these irregular galaxies and first stars
Video examples
If I should have a...
The poem was very indignant, and mainly exaggerated, but the only spoken-word poetry that I had seen up until that point was mainly indignant, so I thought that's what was expected of me. The first time that I performed, the audience of teenagers hooted and hollered their sympathy,
Video examples
How not to be ignorant...
What happens next is news, okay? An excellent journalist knows how to pick the story that will make headlines, and people will read it because it's sensational. Unusual events are more interesting, no? And they are exaggerated, and especially things we're afraid of.
Video examples
Rory Stewart: Time to...
to build their hospitals and schools. It's also very difficult to confront a general with medals on his chest. It's very difficult for a politician, because you're afraid that many lives have been lost in vain. You feel deep, deep guilt. You exaggerate your fears,
Video examples
Understanding the rise...
maybe that's an exaggeration. But there's another problem which goes along with this -- that Europe is increasingly out of touch with the world -- and that is a sort of loss of a sense of the future. I mean, Europe once, of course, once commanded the future
Video examples
Why is Vermeer's "Girl...
also emphasizes the worldliness of the merchant class, and the pearl itself, a symbol of wealth, is actually an exaggeration. Vermeer couldn't have afforded a real pearl of its size. It was likely just a glass or tin drop varnished to look like a pearl.
Video examples
Tim Laman & Ed Scholes:...
females look very different than the males they are brown much more subtly colored not nearly as an ostentatious or exaggerated but females play a very important role in the evolution of birds-of-paradise this is the courtship display area of a
Video examples
Why are we so attached...
where almost everything is shared. At the other extreme, sometimes our attachment to our things can go too far. Part of the cause of hoarding disorder is an exaggerated sense of responsibility and protectiveness toward one's belongings.
Video examples
Poetry makes people...
word poetry and it is without an ounce of exaggeration that I say my whole world changed probably the most substantial evidence is the way that I've been able to share poetry farther and farther away from home since giving
Video examples
The power of women's...
throughout my life, I've always been led to understand that my anger is an exaggeration, a misrepresentation, that it will make me rude and unlikable.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Evander Holyfield
American Boxer
If you don't take no chances, then you're not a performer. Performers always take chances. You go see a singer, they'll hit the high note. They'll hit that note, they're not afraid, they're gonna exaggerate the fact and make me enjoy it, make me say, 'Wow, I wish I could do that!
Quote examples
Ernest Istook
American Politician
We cannot sacrifice innocent human life now for vague and exaggerated promises of medical treatments thirty of forty years from now. There are ways to pursue this technology and respect life at the same time.
Quote examples
Nicolas Cage
Actor
There is a misperception, if you will, in critical response or even in Hollywood, that I can only do exaggerated characters. Or what they would call over-the-top performances. Well, this is completely false.
Quote examples
Henry David Thoreau
American Author
The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?
Quote examples
Eric Hoffer
American Writer
It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.
Quote examples
Josh Billings
American Comedian
There are some people so addicted to exaggeration that they can't tell the truth without lying.
Quote examples
Nicolas Chamfort
French Writer
All passions exaggerate; and they are passions only because they do exaggerate.
Quote examples
Stan Laurel
English Actor
Humor is the truth; wit is an exaggeration of the truth.
Quote examples
Khalil Gibran
Lebanese Poet
Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.
Quote examples
Daniel Schorr
American Journalist
All news is an exaggeration of life.
Quote examples
Evander Holyfield
American Boxer
If you don't take no chances, then you're not a performer. Performers always take chances. You go see a singer, they'll hit the high note. They'll hit that note, they're not afraid, they're gonna exaggerate the fact and make me enjoy it, make me say, 'Wow, I wish I could do that!
Quote examples
Ernest Istook
American Politician
We cannot sacrifice innocent human life now for vague and exaggerated promises of medical treatments thirty of forty years from now. There are ways to pursue this technology and respect life at the same time.
Quote examples
Nicolas Cage
Actor
There is a misperception, if you will, in critical response or even in Hollywood, that I can only do exaggerated characters. Or what they would call over-the-top performances. Well, this is completely false.
Quote examples
Henry David Thoreau
American Author
The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?
Quote examples
Eric Hoffer
American Writer
It would be difficult to exaggerate the degree to which we are influenced by those we influence.
Quote examples
Josh Billings
American Comedian
There are some people so addicted to exaggeration that they can't tell the truth without lying.
Quote examples
Nicolas Chamfort
French Writer
All passions exaggerate; and they are passions only because they do exaggerate.
Quote examples
Stan Laurel
English Actor
Humor is the truth; wit is an exaggeration of the truth.
Quote examples
Khalil Gibran
Lebanese Poet
Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.
Quote examples
Daniel Schorr
American Journalist
All news is an exaggeration of life.
Example 1 of 10
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