ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Hyperbole

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /haɪˈpɜːbəli/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Hyperbole is a noun meaning (uncountable, rhetoric, literature) Deliberate or unintentional overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.

Meaning

(uncountable, rhetoric, literature) Deliberate or unintentional overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.

More Meanings

  1. (countable) An instance or example of such overstatement.
  2. (countable, geometry, obsolete) A hyperbola.

Example Sentences

Hyperbole soars too high, or creeps too low, Exceeds the truth, things wonderful to shew.
The great staircase, however, may be termed, without much hyperbole, a feature of grandeur and magnificence.
Trump has always believed in “truthful hyperbole,” as he called it in “The Art of the Deal.” But now it’s untruthful hyperbole.
"Nay, nay, good Sumach," interrupted the Deerslayer, whose love of truth was too indomitable to listen to such hyperbole, with patience[…]

Word Forms

Synonyms for hyperbole

Depending on context, synonyms include overstatement, exaggeration, auxesis.

Antonyms for hyperbole

Common opposites include understatement.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include exaggeration, hyperbolism, overstatement, hyperbolics, auxesis, verbosity.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.