/ ɪgˈzædʒəreɪt; NAmE / verb
to make sth seem larger, better, worse or more important than it really is :
[ v ]
The hotel was really filthy and I'm not exaggerating.
[ vn ]
He tends to exaggerate the difficulties.
I'm sure he exaggerates his Irish accent (= tries to sound more Irish than he really is) .
Demand for the product has been greatly exaggerated.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent.: from Latin exaggerat- heaped up, from the verb exaggerare , from ex- thoroughly + aggerare heap up (from agger heap). The word originally meant pile up, accumulate , later increase praise or blame , giving rise to current senses.