Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To consider, represent, or cause to appear as larger, more important, or more extreme than is actually the case; overstate.
  • intransitive verb To make overstatements.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To heap up; accumulate.
  • To increase immoderately or extravagantly; make incongruously large or extended; amplify beyond proper bounds.
  • To cause to appear immoderately large or important; amplify in representation or apprehension; enlarge beyond truth or reason.
  • In the fine arts, to heighten extravagantly or disproportionately in effect or design: as, to exaggerate particular features in a painting or statue.
  • To amplify unduly in thought or in description; use exaggeration in speech or writing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To heap up; to accumulate.
  • transitive verb To amplify; to magnify; to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth ; to delineate extravagantly ; to overstate the truth concerning.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To overstate, to describe more than is fact.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth
  • verb do something to an excessive degree

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin exaggerāre, exaggerāt-, to heap up, magnify : ex-, intensive pref.; see ex– + aggerāre, to pile up (from agger, pile, from aggerere, to bring to : ad-, ad- + gerere, to bring).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin exaggeratus, past participle of exaggerare ("to heap up, increase, enlarge, magnify, amplify, exaggerate"), from ex ("out, up") + aggerare ("to heap up"), from agger ("a pile, heap, mound, dike, mole, pier, etc."), from aggerere, adgerere ("to bring together"), from ad ("to") + gerere ("to carry").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word exaggerate.

Examples

  • Talking Points Memo, the calls exaggerate Mr. Obama's ties to Bill Ayers, the former member of the Weather Underground, question the candidate's patriotism by accusing him of

    Clipmarks | Live Clips 2008

  • Talking Points Memo, the calls exaggerate Mr. Obama's ties to Bill Ayers, the former member of the Weather Underground, question the candidate's patriotism by accusing him of

    Clipmarks | Live Clips 2008

  • The online survey, which polled 1,200 people nationwide, found that 75 percent of respondents thought juice labels exaggerate the presence of healthy ingredients in the product, and a majority lacked confidence about a juice's true contents based on what they read on the front label.

    POM Sues Minute Maid For Exploiting Health Benefits Of Pomegranate 2010

  • The online survey, which polled 1,200 people nationwide, found that 75 percent of respondents thought juice labels exaggerate the presence of healthy ingredients in the product, and a majority lacked confidence about a juice's true contents based on what they read on the front label.

    POM Sues Minute Maid For Exploiting Health Benefits Of Pomegranate 2010

  • What your saying is right but all youth that got to know their on earth is mentally conditioned to think like the stronger influences as a youth and the actions and interaction brought to memory get distorted by lack of earth knowledge, and to exaggerate is to be human

    - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community 2009

  • What your saying is right but all youth that got to know their on earth is mentally conditioned to think like the stronger influences as a youth and the actions and interaction brought to memory get distorted by lack of earth knowledge, and to exaggerate is to be human

    - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community 2009

  • What your saying is right but all youth that got to know their on earth is mentally conditioned to think like the stronger influences as a youth and the actions and interaction brought to memory get distorted by lack of earth knowledge, and to exaggerate is to be human

    - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community 2009

  • EDIT (for the person who thinks I "exaggerate")-- Please see above Wikipedia entry, specifically THIS QUOTE (italics mine):

    Archive 2009-08-01 Renee 2009

  • EDIT (for the person who thinks I "exaggerate")-- Please see above Wikipedia entry, specifically THIS QUOTE (italics mine):

    Mary Jo Kopechne 1940-1969 Renee 2009

  • REID: Well, I think that we kind of exaggerate where people sit.

    CNN Transcript May 6, 2009 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I've told you a thousand times, don't exaggerate!

    January 25, 2007

  • Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

    January 25, 2007

  • "In the fine arts, to heighten extravagantly or disproportionately in effect or design: as, to exaggerate particular features in a painting or statue. Synonyms and To strain, stretch, overcolor, caricature. See list under aggravate." --CD&C

    January 30, 2012