hyperbole

B2 Topic:Describing People

US /haɪˈpɝbəli/ UK /haɪˈpɜːbəli/ See IPA manual

Freq #47458

Meanings

1

noun
Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally.

Saying you're "starving" when you've only missed lunch is hyperbole.
2

noun
A particular exaggerated statement of this kind.

"I've told you a million times" is a classic hyperbole.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · deliberate exaggeration... exaggeration overstatement

2 noun · a particular exaggerated... overstatement

Word family

Forms hyperboles

Derived forms cyberbolehyperbolichyperbolismhyperbolisthyperbolize

Related forms adynatonhyperbola

Etymology

From Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola.

iperbole Middle English hyperbolē Latin ὑπερβολή Ancient Greek *gʷelH- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

External links

# hyperbole

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /haɪˈpɝbəli/
**IPA (UK):** /haɪˈpɜːbəli/
**Frequency rank:** 47458

## Meanings
1. Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally.
2. A particular exaggerated statement of this kind.

## Examples
- Saying you're "starving" when you've only missed lunch is hyperbole.
- "I've told you a million times" is a classic hyperbole.

## Derived Forms
- cyberbole
- hyperbolic
- hyperbolism
- hyperbolist
- hyperbolize

## Related Forms
- adynaton
- hyperbola

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: iperbole
- Root: hyperbolē
- Root: ὑπερβολή
- Root: *gʷelH-
- Affix: hyper- - over

## Etymology
From Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola.

## AI Etymology
Hyperbole comes from Middle English iperbole, yperbole, from Latin hyperbolē, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ, “excess, exaggeration”), from ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-). Doublet of hyperbola. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally” and “A particular exaggerated statement of this kind”.

## Topics
- Describing People

markdown

hyperbole

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback