hyperbole
n. C / Un. a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound much bigger, better, or worse than it really is. You use this kind of extreme exaggeration to make a strong point, not to be taken literally.
n. deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for rhetorical effect rather than literal truth. It is frequently employed in both literature and everyday speech to emphasize a point or evoke strong feelings.
Saying you have a million things to do today is pure hyperbole.
The politician's claim that the new tax law would destroy the entire country was dismissed by critics as reckless hyperbole.
While the author's reliance on hyperbole made her essays highly entertaining, it occasionally undermined the serious journalistic points she was trying to convey to her readers.
From Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Primarily uncountable when referring to the rhetorical device or the general practice of exaggeration.
- Nounhyperbole
- Adjectivehyperbolic
Last updated April 24, 2026