hyperbole

Meaning

1. (rhetoric, uncountable) Deliberate or unintentional overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.
2. (countable) An instance or example of such overstatement.
3. (countable, obsolete) A hyperbola.

Opposite of

understatement

Synonyms

exaggeration

overstatement

exorbitance

extravagance

hyperbola

overstate

exaggerate

preciosity

excessive

Translations

hyperbole

hipérbole

iperbole

Hyperbel

Übertreibung

υπερβολή

hyperbool

hipérbole

hyperbole

hipèrbole

exagération

exageració

exageración

exagero

Pronounced as (IPA)

/haɪˈpɜːbəli/

Etymology

From Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “I throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola.