Overexaggerating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To amplify a situation or characteristic excessively, making it appear much more significant or intense than it truly is
2. To depict an event, quality, or emotion as far more extreme than it actually is, thereby distorting reality
3. To state or describe something in a way that makes it seem much larger, more important, or more dramatic than it really is

Etymology: "Overexaggerating" is the present participle and gerund of "overexaggerate", which is formed by attaching the prefix "over-" to "exaggerate". "Exaggerate" comes from Latin "exaggeratus", the past participle of "exaggerare", meaning to heap up or magnify, built from "ex-" (out, thoroughly) and "aggerare" (to pile up), itself from "agger", a mound or heap of earth. The prefix "over-" adds the sense of going beyond what is appropriate or reasonable, so "overexaggerate" means to exaggerate excessively. The word may have been shaped by analogy with "overstate" and "overdo", which follow the same pattern of an intensifying "over-" attached to a verb of excess.

Synonyms: overstating, magnifying

Antonyms: understating