Overreport

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To provide information that exaggerates or oversells the facts beyond what is true or needed
2. To give an account or statement that inflates the actual details or quantity reported
3. To state or describe something with excessive or inflated numbers or details compared to reality

Etymology: "Overreport" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-", meaning excessively or beyond what is proper, attached to "report," which comes from Latin "reportare," to bring back or carry back. The original sense of "report" was literal transport, bringing news or goods back to someone, and only later did it come to mean relaying information. Adding "over-" to it produces a verb meaning to relay facts in a way that goes past what is true or necessary. The prefix does the work here. English has long used "over-" to form verbs such as "overstate," "overdo," and "overcharge," each signalling excess. "Overreport" follows that pattern, so its meaning can be worked out from its parts, which is why it needs no special history of its own.

Synonyms: exaggerate, overstate