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

Akasha looked up the drug online and read that a single dose was equivalent to 300 hits of acid—an exaggeration, but one that got his attention. —Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 22 May 2025

At least from speaking with him upon his arrival in Kansas City for rookie camp, that didn’t seem to be an exaggeration. —Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 21 May 2025

To claim that Trump is motivated purely by values would be an exaggeration. —Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 16 May 2025

The caricature of a suspicious-looking noncitizen from some faraway state clutching a clipboard is an exaggeration. —Steve Bousquet, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for exaggeration

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration