[syn: exaggeration, overstatement, magnification]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Exaggeration \Ex*ag`ger*a"tion\, n. [L. exaggeratio : cf. F.
exag['e]ration.]
1. The act of heaping or piling up. [Obs.] "Exaggeration of
sand." --Sir M. Hale.
[1913 Webster]
2. The act of exaggerating; the act of doing or representing
in an excessive manner; a going beyond the bounds of truth
reason, or justice; a hyperbolical representation;
hyperbole; overstatement.
[1913 Webster]
No need of an exaggeration of what they saw. --I.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Paint.) A representation of things beyond natural life,
in expression, beauty, power, vigor.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
exaggeration
n 1: extravagant exaggeration [syn: hyperbole, exaggeration]
2: the act of making something more noticeable than usual; "the
dance involved a deliberate exaggeration of his awkwardness"
3: making to seem more important than it really is [syn:
exaggeration, overstatement, magnification] [ant:
understatement]