Hyperbole

Hyperbole (pronounced /haɪˈpɝbəli/ or "hy-PER-buh-lee"; "HY-per-bowl" is a mispronunciation) is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, and is not meant to be taken literally.

Hyperbole is used to create emphasis. It is often used in poetry and is a literary device.

Some examples include:

• "He has a brain the size of a pea."
• "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
• "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times."
• "She is one-hundred feet tall."
• "Everything around me feels small."

Antonyms to hyperbole include meiosis, litotes, understatement, and bathos (the 'let down' after a hyperbole in a phrase).

Derived from the Greek ὑπερβολή (literally 'overshooting' or 'excess'), it is a cognate of hyperbola.

See also

Look up hyperbole in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Adynaton
• Irony
• Litotes
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Zillion

References

External links

• A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples
• Audio illustrations of hyperbole as figure of speechbg:Хипербола (литература)

ca:Hipèrbole cs:Hyperbola (literatura) cy:Gormodiaith de:Hyperbel (Sprache) es:Hipérbole eu:Hiperbole fr:Hyperbole (rhétorique) gl:Hipérbole hr:Hiperbola (figura) is:Ýkjur it:Iperbole (figura retorica) he:הגזמה mk:Хипербола (лингвистика) nl:Hyperbool (stijlfiguur) no:Hyperbol pl:Hiperbola (teoria literatury) pt:Hipérbole (figura de estilo) ro:Hiperbolă (figură de stil) ru:Гипербола (литература) simple:Exaggeration sk:Hyperbola (literatúra) fi:Hype sv:Hyperbol tr:Abartıcılık uk:Гіпербола