English

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin exaggerātus, perfect passive participle of exaggerō (to heap up, increase, enlarge, magnify, amplify, exaggerate) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex- (out, up) + aggerō, aggerāre (to heap up), from agger (a pile, heap, mound, dike, mole, pier, etc.), from aggerō, aggerere (to bear, carry to (some place), bring together), from ad- (to, toward) +‎ gerō (to carry).

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ɛɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/, /ɛk(s)ˈzæ(ɡ)d͡ʒɜː(ɹ).ɹeɪt/, /ɪɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/
    • Audio (California):(file)
  • Hyphenation: ex‧ag‧ger‧ate

Verb

edit

exaggerate (third-person singular simple present exaggerates, present participle exaggerating, simple past and past participle exaggerated)

  1. To overstate, to describe more than the fact.
    Synonyms: big up, overexaggerate, overstate, hyperbolize
    Antonyms: belittle, downplay, understate, trivialize
    I've told you a billion times not to exaggerate!
    He said he’d slept with hundreds of girls, but I know he’s exaggerating. The real number is about ten.
    • 2023 April 5, Mark Hay, “Does Testosterone Affect Your Politics?”, in VICE[1]:
      These testosterone thumpers have repackaged and exaggerated the study, with a credulity born of zealotry, into articles with shitposty titles like “Trust The Science: Study Links Left-Wing Politics to Lower Testosterone,” casting it as hard proof of their hormonal theories of healthy politics.

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

Adjective

edit

exaggerate (comparative more exaggerate, superlative most exaggerate)

  1. Exaggerative; overblown.
    • 1901, Valentin Matcas, The Human Addictions:
      And in general, if it is a natural feeling, let it be, but at normal, living levels, not too exaggerate.
    • 2005, Daniel Marin, Megator, page 4:
      Water was invading, like some loving arms, some protecting wings, but its love and care were too exaggerate, they were deadly.
    • 2012, Joy Damousi, Mariano Ben Plotkin, Psychoanalysis and Politics, page 202:
      You will leave [the camp] and when confronted to the smallest inconvenience you will have again these reactions that, for me, are very exaggerate.
    • 2012, Yair Goldreich, The Climate of Israel: Observation, Research and Application, page 132:
      From this comparison, it seems that the data in Table 7.7 are reasonable, while Ashbel's values are exaggerate.

Further reading

edit

Latin

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

exaggerāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of exaggerō