exaggerate
verb
[ ɪɡˈzadʒəreɪt ]
• represent (something) as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.
• "he was apt to exaggerate any aches and pains"
Similar:
overstate,
overemphasize,
overstress,
overestimate,
overvalue,
magnify,
amplify,
aggrandize,
inflate,
embellish,
embroider,
colour,
elaborate,
over-elaborate,
oversell,
overdraw,
overplay,
dramatize,
hyperbolize,
add colour,
stretch the truth,
catastrophize,
overpitch,
pile it on,
lay it on thick,
lay it on with a trowel/shovel,
make a drama out of a crisis,
make a big thing of,
shoot a line,
draw the longbow,
Origin:
mid 16th century: from Latin exaggerat- ‘heaped up’, from the verb exaggerare, from ex- ‘thoroughly’ + aggerare ‘heap up’ (from agger ‘heap’). The word originally meant ‘pile up, accumulate’, later ‘intensify praise or blame’, giving rise to current senses.
