Basic Details
Word: Exaggeration
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Describing something as bigger, better, worse or more important than it really is.
Synonyms: overstatement, hyperbole
Antonyms: understatement
How to Spell Exaggeration
Syllables: ex - ag - ger - a - tion
Tricky part: The g is doubled but the r is single. Many students do the reverse and write exagerration, or drop a g altogether.
Watch out for: exagerration, exageration, exaggaration
Memory tip: An exaggeration makes things bigger, so the g grows to gg - but the r stays small and single: ex-a-gg-e-r-ation.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Calling the queue at the ration shop a kilometre long was an exaggeration.
Example 2: It is no exaggeration to say that Meena practised the song a hundred times.
Example 3: Uncle's fishing stories are full of exaggeration: the fish grows bigger each year.
Fun Fact
The word comes from Latin exaggerare, to heap up; agger meant a heap or a mound of earth, as if words were being piled higher and higher.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
ex_gg_r_tion
a) a, e, i
b) e, e, a
c) a, e, a
d) a, a, a
Show answer
c) a, e, a. Say it slowly: ex-ag-ger-a-tion. The vowels after x go a, e, a.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. rumour 2. anecdote 3. exagerration 4. sarcasm
a) a description that makes something seem bigger than it really is
b) a story passed from person to person that may not be true
c) a short, interesting story about a real person or event
d) saying the opposite of what you mean in order to mock
Show answer
a) a description that makes something seem bigger than it really is. The double letter in exaggeration is gg, not rr, so exagerration carries the mistake.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word exaggeration as used in the sentence:
Saying the new mall is as big as a city is an exaggeration.
a) understatement
b) overstatement
c) magnification
d) hyperbole
Show answer
a) understatement. An understatement makes a thing sound smaller than it is, the reverse of an exaggeration.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Calling the drizzle a flood was a slight nogaaeerxgit, though the lane did get wet.
a) exasperation
b) exaggeration
c) exhortation
d) exaggerating
Show answer
b) exaggeration. Exaggerating needs a third g and exasperation an s, so these twelve letters give exaggeration.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is an exaggeration?
a) Please close the door.
b) I have told you twice to close the door.
c) I have told you a million times to close the door.
d) The door is open.
Show answer
c) I have told you a million times to close the door.
2. A writer who uses exaggeration on purpose, for effect, is using ____.
a) rhyme
b) hyperbole
c) a simile
d) alliteration
Show answer
b) hyperbole
