First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
hyperbole
noun hy·per·bo·le \hī-ˈpər-bə-(ˌ)lē\
: language that describes something as better or worse than it really is
Full Definition of HYPERBOLE
: extravagant exaggeration (as “mile-high ice-cream cones”)
— hy·per·bo·list \-list\ noun
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Examples of HYPERBOLE
- Four decades later we're all blabbermouths, adrift on a sea of hyperbole, shouting to be heard. —Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated, 1 Apr. 2002
- … balanced on the razor edge of anachronism, creating a rich stew of accepted and invented history, anecdote, myth and hyperbole. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, New York Times Book Review, 18 May 1997
- Even if we discount the hyperbole evident in such accounts, they were far from inventions. —Lawrence W. Levine, The Unpredictable Past, 1993
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Origin of HYPERBOLE
Latin, from Greek hyperbolē excess, hyperbole, hyperbola, from hyperballein to exceed, from hyper- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Related to HYPERBOLE
- Synonyms
- caricature, coloring, elaboration, embellishment, embroidering, embroidery, exaggeration, magnification, overstatement, padding, stretching
- Antonyms
- meiosis, understatement
Other Grammar and Linguistics Terms
Rhymes with HYPERBOLE
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Next Word in the Dictionary: hyperbolic (adjective)Previous Word in the Dictionary: hyperbolaAll Words Near: hyperbole
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