exaggerated

The word “exaggerated” means described or shown as bigger, worse, or more extreme than it actually is. In plain terms, blown out of proportion; overstated.

“Exaggerated” is pronounced ihg-ZA-juh-ray-tihd (/ɪɡˈzæ.d͡ʒəˌɹeɪ.tɪd/ in IPA).

Here is “exaggerated” used in a sentence: “The movie poster gave an exaggerated impression of how scary the film really was.”

“Exaggerated” is an adjective.

“Exaggerated” is an uncommon word in modern English.

Exaggerated and overstated both describe something presented as bigger, worse, or more extreme than reality, and the two words are close synonyms. Exaggerated is more commonly used for stories, reactions, or physical descriptions, while overstated often appears in more formal contexts such as claims, statistics, or arguments.

Exaggerated specifically implies that something has been made to seem bigger or more extreme than it actually is, whereas dramatic simply describes something intense, striking, or theatrical without necessarily implying distortion of the truth. A dramatic gesture is not automatically exaggerated unless it overstates the reality of the situation.

Exaggerated is often paired with nouns like claim, reaction, sense, and account, as in an exaggerated sense of importance or an exaggerated account of events. It frequently appears alongside phrases like grossly exaggerated or wildly exaggerated to intensify the degree of distortion being described.