hyperbole[noun]Synonyms: exaggeration, coloring, embellishment, embroidering, overstatement
Antonyms: litotes
Contrasted words: depreciation, minimization, understatement
English Thesaurus: dialect, accent, slang, terminology, jargon, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
hy‧per‧bo‧le /haɪˈpɜːbəli $ -ɜːr-/
noun [uncountable and countable][
Date: 1400-1500;
Language: Latin;
Origin: Greek, 'too much of something, hyperbole', from hyperballein 'to go beyond limits']
a way of describing something by saying it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is
Synonym : exaggeration:
It was not hyperbole to call it the worst storm in twenty years.—hyperbolic /ˌhaɪpəˈbɒlɪk◂ $ -pərˈbɑː-/
adjective [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
dialect a form of a language that is spoken in one area of a country, with different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other areas:
Cantonese is only one of many Chinese dialects.
the local dialectaccent the way that someone pronounces words, because of where they were born or live, or their social class:
Karen has a strong New Jersey accent.
an upper class accentslang very informal spoken language, used especially by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people or criminals:
Teenage slang changes all the time.
‘Dosh’ is slang for ‘money’.terminology formal the technical words or expressions that are used in a particular subject:
musical terminology
Patients are often unfamiliar with medical terminology.jargon especially disapproving words and phrases used in a particular profession or subject and which are difficult for other people to understand:
The instructions were written in complicated technical jargon.
‘Outsourcing’ is business jargon for sending work to people outside a company to do.
The letter was full of legal jargon.metaphor a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing:
The beehive is a metaphor for human society.simile an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words
as or
like, for example ‘as white as snow’:
The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’.irony the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing:
‘I’m so happy to hear that,’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice.bathos a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important:
The play is too sentimental and full of bathos.hyperbole a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings:
In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole.
journalistic hyperbolealliteration the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry:
the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’imagery the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind:
the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’
She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope.rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer:
When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲