larger-than-lifeadj.
/ˌlɑːdʒəð(ə)nˈlʌɪf/, U.S. /ˌlɑrdʒərðənˈlaɪf/ Very striking or imposing; exaggerated; flamboyant, extravagant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > [adjective]
hyperbolical?a1475
overchargeda1542
magnificate1568
amplified1580
superlative1586
fulsome1602
hyperthetical?1611
hyperbolous1638
hyperbolic1646
bloata1657
exaggerated1725
overshot1774
overstuffed1808
overdrawn1841
fine-drawn1888
steep1895
larger-than-life1937
blown-up1961
1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning i. 12 A larger-than-life edition of his stage self.
1972 D. Francis Smokescreen ii. 27 I had very little in common with the sort of larger-than-life action man I played in film after film.
1990 Hair Flair Dec. 44/2 On stage and in photos I can do larger-than-life, fantasy things but then working back in the salon brings me down to earth.
2010 New Yorker 20 Sept. 104/2 The story of a larger-than-life, charismatic, canny man, who controls Atlantic City like a Mafia boss.
Derivatives
ˌlarger-than-ˈlifeness n.
ΚΠ
1937 Manch. Guardian 4 Dec. 15/5 The grandiloquent larger-than-lifeness that is essential to the illusion of opera.
2012 J. Vine It's All News to Me xix. 268 She exuded a larger-than-lifeness and had a different kind of brain to the typical news animal.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1937