Exaggeration is a representation of something in an excessive manner. The exaggerator has been a familiar figure in Western culture since at least Aristotle's discussion of the alazon: 'the boaster is regarded as one who pretends to have distinguished qualities which he possesses either not at all or to a lesser degree than he pretends...exaggerating'.
It is the opposite of minimisation.
Words or expressions associated with exaggeration include:
- catastrophization
- hyperbole
- laying it on thick
- magnification
- maximization
- overreaction
- overstating
- stretching the truth
Read more about Exaggeration: Humour, Overacting, Tragedy, Expressionism, Metaphors, Literary Analogues
Famous quotes containing the word exaggeration:
“Where there is no exaggeration there is no love, and where there is no love there is no understanding. It is only about things that do not interest one, that one can give a really unbiased opinion; and this is no doubt the reason why an unbiased opinion is always valueless.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“The men who are messing up their lives, their families, and their world in their quest to feel man enough are not exercising true masculinity, but a grotesque exaggeration of what they think a man is. When we see men overdoing their masculinity, we can assume that they haven’t been raised by men, that they have taken cultural stereotypes literally, and that they are scared they aren’t being manly enough.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)