exaggerate

exaggerate
\ \ [16] Something that is exaggerated is literally ‘piled up’ out of all due proportion; indeed that is what it originally meant in English: ‘With their flipping and flapping up and down in the dirt they exaggerate a mountain of mire’, Philip Stubbes, Anatomy of Abuses 1583.
\ \ It was not really until the 17th century that the current sense ‘overemphasize’ came to the fore, although it was already present in the word’s Latin original. This was exaggerāre, a compound formed from the intensive prefix exand aggerārepile up’ (a derivative of aggerheap’).

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • exaggerate — [eg zaj′ər āt΄, igzaj′ə rāt΄] vt. exaggerated, exaggerating [< L exaggeratus, pp. of exaggerare, to increase, exaggerate < ex , out, up + aggerare, to heap up < agger, a heap < aggerere, to bring toward < ad , to + gerere, to carry …   English World dictionary

  • Exaggerate — Ex*ag ger*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Exaggerated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Exaggerating} . ] [L. exaggeratus, p. p. of exaggerare to heap up; ex out + aggerare to heap up, fr. agger heap, aggerere to bring to; ad to + gerere to bear. See {Jest}. ] 1. To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • exaggerate — index cloak, compound, distort, enhance, enlarge, expand, falsify, inflate, intensify …   Law dictionary

  • exaggerate — (v.) 1530s, to pile up, accumulate, from L. exaggeratus, pp. of exaggerare heighten, amplify, magnify, lit. to heap, pile, load, fill, from ex thoroughly (see EX (Cf. ex )) + aggerare heap up, from agger (gen. aggeris) heap, from …   Etymology dictionary

  • exaggerate — [v] overstate, embellish amplify, blow out of proportion*, boast, boost, brag, build up, caricature, color, cook up*, corrupt, distort, embroider, emphasize, enlarge, exalt, expand, fabricate, falsify, fudge*, go to extremes*, heighten, hike,… …   New thesaurus

  • exaggerate — ► VERB 1) represent as being greater than in reality. 2) (exaggerated) enlarged or altered beyond normal proportions. DERIVATIVES exaggeratedly adverb exaggeration noun. ORIGIN Latin exaggerare heap up …   English terms dictionary

  • exaggerate */ — UK [ɪɡˈzædʒəreɪt] / US [ɪɡˈzædʒəˌreɪt] verb Word forms exaggerate : present tense I/you/we/they exaggerate he/she/it exaggerates present participle exaggerating past tense exaggerated past participle exaggerated 1) [intransitive/transitive] to… …   English dictionary

  • exaggerate — verb ADVERB ▪ greatly, grossly, vastly, wildly ▪ These figures have been greatly exaggerated. ▪ a little, slightly, etc …   Collocations dictionary

  • exaggerate — 01. When Scott hurt his back weeding the garden, he really [exaggerated] how much it hurt so that he wouldn t have to cut the grass. 02. Fishermen always [exaggerate] the size of a fish they almost caught. 03. Oh come on, Lulu, stop… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • exaggerate — ex|ag|ger|ate [ ıg zædʒə,reıt ] verb * 1. ) intransitive or transitive to describe something in a way that makes it seem better, worse, larger, more important, etc. than it really is: Don t exaggerate! It wasn t that bad! greatly/grossly/wildly… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • exaggerate — [[t]ɪgzæ̱ʤəreɪt[/t]] exaggerates, exaggerating, exaggerated 1) VERB If you exaggerate, you indicate that something is, for example, worse or more important than it really is. He thinks I m exaggerating... Don t exaggerate... [V n] Sheila admitted …   English dictionary

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