From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhyperbolehy‧per‧bo‧le /haɪˈpɜːbəli $ -ɜːr-/ noun [countable, uncountable] ALa way of describing something by saying it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is SYN exaggeration It was not hyperbole to call it the worst storm in twenty years.► see thesaurus at language —hyperbolic /ˌhaɪpəˈbɒlɪk◂ $ -pərˈbɑː-/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
hyperbole• She appropriated slapstick and hyperbole to the delicious purpose of lampooning the fathead who made her life miserable.• Some cynics might dismiss such statements as cosmic hyperbole.• Rick said, with a touch of hyperbole, that it was the best movie he'd ever seen.• It is only slight hyperbole to say that Roy Disney averted a cultural tragedy.• Buried somewhere in all that hyperbole is a good deal of truth.• Twenty-four hours until kick-off and the hyperbole was drifting out of control.• One might forgive the hyperbole in a politician but it is less easy to take from academic or journalistic critics.• Rick Perry, the Texas commissioner of agriculture, is a rancher with an aversion to hyperbole.Origin hyperbole (1400-1500) Latin Greek, “too much of something, hyperbole”, from hyperballein “to go beyond limits” 