hyperbole
- An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally, used for emphasis or rhetorical effect.
In a sentence
- Saying 'I've told you a million times' is a classic example of hyperbole.
- The sports commentator's hyperbole made every play sound like the most dramatic moment in history.
Usage note. Pronunciation catches people off guard: it is four syllables, hy-PER-buh-lee, not three syllables like 'HY-per-bowl'; the final '-e' is sounded, following the Greek pattern.
Where it comes from
English hyperbole — “deliberate overstatement” · entered English 16th c.
From Latin 'hyperbole', from Greek 'hyperbolē', meaning 'excess, extravagance', from 'hyperballein' (to throw beyond), composed of 'hyper' (over, beyond) and 'ballein' (to throw). The word entered English in the late 15th century, around the 1520s, as a rhetorical term. The same Greek root gives English 'hyperbola' in mathematics.