exaggeration
noun
Simple meaning
The act of making something more noticeable than usual.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihgzajerayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪɡzædʒɚˈeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of exaggerating; the act of doing or representing in an excessive manner; a going beyond the bounds of truth, reason, or justice; a hyperbolical representation; hyperbole; overstatement.
The act of making something more noticeable than usual
“The dance involved a deliberate exaggeration of his awkwardness.”
A representation of things beyond natural life, in expression, beauty, power, vigor.
The act of heaping or piling up.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of making something more noticeable than usual
Used this way, exaggeration is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The dance involved a deliberate exaggeration of his awkwardness.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “exaggeration of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: exaggeration of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use exaggeration
- “The dance involved a deliberate exaggeration of his awkwardness.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: exaggerating
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.