Word
exaggerating
Phoneticsex·ag·ger·at·ing
US/ɪɡˈzædʒɝˌeɪtɪŋ/
UK/ɛɡzˈædʒəɹˌeɪtɪŋ/
Definition
v. making something seem bigger, better, or worse than it really is. You do this when you want to make a story more exciting or important.
v. representing something as being larger, better, or worse than it is in reality. The present participle of 'exaggerate'.
Examples
“He is exaggerating the size of the fish he caught.”
“I think she is exaggerating the difficulty of the project to get more help from the team.”
“While some critics argued the author was exaggerating the social decline of the era, others felt the vivid prose accurately captured the underlying anxiety of the population.”
Examples
simple
“He is exaggerating the size of the fish he caught.”
contextual
“I think she is exaggerating the difficulty of the project to get more help from the team.”
complex
“While some critics argued the author was exaggerating the social decline of the era, others felt the vivid prose accurately captured the underlying anxiety of the population.”
Usage
Transitive or intransitive; often used in the continuous form to describe a current behavior.
Pitfall
He is exaggerating about the price.
He is exaggerating the price.
Exaggerate is a transitive verb; it usually takes a direct object without the preposition 'about'.
Real-World Examples
“Of course, serious consequences must follow from exaggerating one’s credentials in order to gain promotion.” “But the US government is probably exaggerating the impact of these workarounds.” Scan code
englishreference.com/q/exaggerating