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
Tony SwanScads of fibs, exaggerations and misleading statements have been swept up in the dragnet …—James Poniewozik
James PoniewozikExamples of exaggeration in a Sentence
their exaggeration was such that a rainstorm became a hurricane
Recent Examples on the Web
That profile — outsider, migrant, adopted identity, ascent to the top tier — is, without much exaggeration, the story Saudi Arabia is trying to write for itself in world football.
—Wael Mahdi, semafor.com, 16 June 2026
Black comedy is among the hardest tones to nail, and if there was a single knowing wink from the actors or even a soupçon of exaggeration in the execution, the whole thing could simply become too tiresomely antic to be actually funny.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 June 2026
Jane Austen and Charles Dickens were both masters of comedy, but the contrast between her ironic understatement and his histrionic exaggeration reflects profoundly different personalities and life experiences, in which class and gender played an important part.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
Height exaggeration is one of the oldest and most well-documented forms of self-inflation.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
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Wael Mahdi, semafor.com, 16 June 2026
Black comedy is among the hardest tones to nail, and if there was a single knowing wink from the actors or even a soupçon of exaggeration in the execution, the whole thing could simply become too tiresomely antic to be actually funny.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 June 2026
Jane Austen and Charles Dickens were both masters of comedy, but the contrast between her ironic understatement and his histrionic exaggeration reflects profoundly different personalities and life experiences, in which class and gender played an important part.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
Height exaggeration is one of the oldest and most well-documented forms of self-inflation.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for exaggeration
Cite this Entry
“Exaggeration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exaggeration. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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