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 aggerāre ‘pile up’ (a derivative of agger ‘heap’).

The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins. 2013.

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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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