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exaggerate

exag·ge·rate

UK/ɛɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/ US/ɛk(s)ˈzæ(ɡ)d͡ʒɜː(ɹ).ɹeɪt/ fairly common

verb

1.

to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth

  • “tended to romanticize and exaggerate this”
  • “imagery”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

do something to an excessive degree

  • “He overdid it last night when he did 100 push-ups”
Synonyms

Origin

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”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.