hyperbole

«hyperbole» in Mova's school dictionary: a huge exaggeration that is not meant to be taken… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (hyperbole, uncountable; a hyperbole, hyperboles)

meaning for a pupil

Hyperbole is a huge exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally, used to make a point or be funny, like «I've told you a million times». tree →

sense in the lessons

In English lessons, hyperbole is a figure of speech, along with simile and metaphor. Writers use it for humour, drama or strong feeling. In everyday speech it is everywhere: «I'm starving», «this bag weighs a ton». In adverts and politics, hyperbole can make things sound better than they are, so readers should check facts.

examples

• «I'm so hungry I could eat a horse» is hyperbole. tree →
• «I've told you a million times» is an example of hyperbole. tree →
• The poet used hyperbole to show how much she loved him. tree →
• Find the hyperbole in the paragraph. tree →
• The advert's claim to be «the best in the universe» is hyperbole. tree →
• «This bag weighs a ton!» she said, using hyperbole. tree →

note

Say «hy-PER-bo-lee», four syllables — not «hyper-bowl». Often uncountable; «a hyperbole» for one example. Adjective: hyperbolic. In maths, «hyperbola» is a different word: a type of curve.

In the corpora

• "Cost an arm and a leg" means cost a lot of money; it is a deliberate exaggeration, called hyperbole.
• But hyperbole has a twin trap.
• Adverts and headlines use hyperbole for a job: to make you buy, click or read.
• Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole: it makes things sound SMALLER than they are.
• Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame both loved hyperbole and understatement, and they made jokes out of them.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «hyperbole» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.