hyperbolize
hyperbolize — verb
- hyperbolizepresent simple I / you / we / they
- hyperbolizes3rd person singular
- hyperbolizing-ing form
- hyperbolizedpast simple
1. to talk or write in a way that makes things sound far more extreme than they act
to talk or write in a way that makes things sound far more extreme than they actually are, often to make a point more striking or memorable.
The senator tends to hyperbolize during campaign speeches, calling every minor policy change a revolutionary breakthrough.
intransitive: hyperbolize + 'during/about'
Nadia knows her uncle loves to hyperbolize, so she never fully believes his stories about the fish he caught.
intransitive: 'loves to hyperbolize'
When describing the hike, Reuben would always hyperbolize, claiming the trail was steeper than a vertical wall.
Astrid warned the children not to hyperbolize when telling their father what happened to the broken vase.
- exaggerate
far more common; hyperbolize is a formal, less frequent synonym
- overstate
focuses on claiming something is greater than it is, similar to hyperbolize but less rhetorical
- understate
to describe something as less important than it really is
文法句型
hyperbolize (no object)
hyperbolize about [topic]
用法筆記
This intransitive sense is the more common and older use of the word. The subject is always a person or group, and the action is describing things with deliberate exaggeration for effect.
常見錯誤
2. to describe a specific thing or situation as being far greater, larger, worse, o
to describe a specific thing or situation as being far greater, larger, worse, or more intense than it really is, going well past the bounds of truth.
The advertisement hyperbolized the benefits of the face cream, promising it would erase every wrinkle overnight.
transitive: hyperbolized + [the benefits]
Salma hyperbolized the difficulty of the exam so much that her classmates spent the whole week in a panic.
transitive: hyperbolized + [the difficulty]
Critics accused the journalist of hyperbolizing the dangers of the new technology to sell more newspapers.
The review hyperbolized the restaurant's flaws, calling one cold appetizer the worst meal in the city's history.
- exaggerate
the common everyday word; hyperbolize is far more formal and rare
- overstate
similar in meaning but less intense and more neutral in tone
- magnify
can also mean 'make bigger'; overstate and hyperbolize are specifically about false representation
- understate
to represent as less than the truth
文法句型
hyperbolize + [noun phrase]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense takes a direct object (what is exaggerated), while sense 1 has no object. The transitive form is extremely rare in everyday English; most speakers use the intransitive pattern or simply use 'exaggerate'.