exaggerationnoun [ C or U ]
uk/ɪɡˌzædʒ.əˈreɪ.ʃən/us/ɪɡˌzædʒ.əˈreɪ.ʃən/C1 the fact of making something seem larger, more important, better, or worse than it really is:
Sal estimates over 60 people were there but I think that's a slight exaggeration.
[ + to infinitive ] It would be no exaggeration to say that her work has saved lives.
More examples
- No, she wasn't that fat - what an exaggeration!
- Don't believe everything she tells you, as she's rather prone to exaggeration.
- Honestly, without any exaggeration, the fish was three metres long!
- "Her face went as green as your jumper." "Don't you think that's a slight exaggeration?"
- Unfortunately, the newspaper article was full of exaggerations and misrepresentations.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Exaggerating & playing down
- blow sth out of proportion idiom
- drama queen
- dramatize
- lard
- lay
- make a meal (out) of sth idiom
- make much of sth idiom
- make sth of sth
- meal
- over-egg the pudding idiom
- overboard
- overplay
- overstatement
- pad
- pudding
- soft-pedal
- stretch
- stretch the truth idiom
- talk sth down
- understatement
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