exaggerate
part of speech
verb (exaggerate, exaggerates, exaggerated, exaggerating)
meaning for a pupil
To exaggerate is to make something sound bigger, better, worse or more important than it really is. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life people exaggerate to make a story funnier or to get attention («I've told you a million times»); in stories and tall tales exaggeration is for fun; in science and maths you must report results exactly, not exaggerate. Phrases: «don't exaggerate», «exaggerate a story», «greatly exaggerated».
examples
- Don't exaggerate; it wasn't as big as a house! tree →
- He exaggerated how far he could swim. tree →
- The advert exaggerates how good the toy is. tree →
- I'm not exaggerating; there really were a hundred bees. tree →
- Cartoons exaggerate people's faces to make them funny. tree →
- She exaggerated the story to make her friends laugh. tree →
- Scientists must report what they measured and not exaggerate. tree →
- It would be difficult to exaggerate the old man’s rejoicing now. tree →
note
Spelling trap: double «g», one «r»: ex-ag-ger-ate. Noun: «exaggeration». Exaggerating is not always lying, but it can mislead. Adverts and posts online often exaggerate; check the real facts.
In the corpora
- Headlines about AI can exaggerate in both directions, overhyping or overscaring, so it is wise to read beyond the headline.
- Sharks smell blood well, but the story that they can smell one drop from miles away is exaggerated.
- "Stretching the truth" means exaggerating so much that it becomes lying.
- A "fish story" is a US phrase for an exaggerated or invented claim.
- Another family's rules are not a reason for yours to change, and stories about «three hours» are often exaggerated.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «exaggerate» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.