Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb (used with object), ex·ag·ger·at·ed, ex·ag·ger·at·ing.
- to magnify beyond the limits of truth; overstate; represent disproportionately: to exaggerate the difficulties of a situation.
- to increase or enlarge abnormally: Those shoes exaggerate the size of my feet.
verb (used without object), ex·ag·ger·at·ed, ex·ag·ger·at·ing.
- to employ exaggeration, as in speech or writing: a person who is always exaggerating.
verb
- to regard or represent as larger or greater, more important or more successful, etc, than is true
- (tr) to make greater, more noticeable, etc, than usualhis new clothes exaggerated his awkwardness
v.1530s, “to pile up, accumulate,” from Latin exaggeratus, past participle of exaggerare “heighten, amplify, magnify,” literally “to heap, pile, load, fill,” from ex- “thoroughly” (see ex-) + aggerare “heap up,” from agger (genitive aggeris) “heap,” from aggerere “bring together, carry toward,” from ad- “to, toward” + gerere “carry” (see gest). Sense of “overstate” first recorded in English 1560s. Related: Exaggerated; exaggerating.