Hyperbole
noun
- Acute exaggeration, meant to be taken rhetorically or figuratively
Usage
Talking (or writing) to people would be really boring if we only ever expressed exactly what we mean without embellishment. Of course, it would be difficult to detect someone's meaning if such creative license were routine. If spared for special occasions, making something out to be bigger, better, worse or more exciting than it is, can make for a powerful effect. That is why unleashing the wild exaggeration of hyperbole at the right time can really blow your listener away.
Hyperbole is a grand overstatement of the actual state of something that is intended for effect. While at other times, one might choose to inflate the truth in order to mislead others, with hyperbole this is not the aim, but rather to entertain or emphasize by the extreme contrast between the description and the reality. An instance of hyperbole is also not just one of any kind of embellishment, but one that is so absurdly great that the listener instantly deduces that what is being described is not true word-for-word (e.g. "my commute takes centuries" would be a hyperbole unless you are a cosmic commuter). Because of how ridiculous its overestimation is, hyperbole is most often used to convey humor, though it can be employed in conveying nearly any point.
Example: Though I regularly feed my cat, he voices his hunger in frenzied meows to the point of hyperbole whenever his dinnertime rolls around.
Example: As he knew there was no way the teacher would overlook his tardiness, he made a hyperbole of his excuse for his late arrival.
Origin
The word hyperbole took on its present meaning in English sometime in the early 15th century, but its lineage traces through Latin and, before that, Greek. The Greek hyperbole is a derivative of hyperballein, comprised of the word for "above," hyper, and "to throw," ballein, to literally mean "to throw above" or "to throw beyond." While it is tempting to see the hyper- prefix and pronounce the word with emphasis there, incorrectly producing "HIY-puhr-bohl," the accentuation of the second syllable results from the word's Greek roots.
Hyperbole is also the origin (and one of the plural forms) of the mathematical term hyperbola, a 17th century Latinized adaptation of the Greek hyperbole used to describe the symmetric curve that forms when a plane crosses a double cone. Hypebola is the most eccentric of the various conic sections and perhaps named as such because its eccentricity (measure of how much a conic section deviates from being circular) exceeds 1.
Derivative Words
Hyperbolic: The adjective form of hyperbole illustrates when something is wildly exaggerated from the truth.
Example: Her friends had gotten so used to her hyperbolic excuses for not showing up to their parties that they eventually stopped inviting her.
Hyperbolical: This additional adjective form serves roughly the same function as hyperbolic.
Example: The hyperbolical nature of Stephen Colbert's humor is much of why he is immensely popular among the college-aged demographic.
Hyperbolically: This adverb shows when an action is being taken in a dramatically embellished way.
Example: She swung her tennis racket hyperbolically to demonstrate improper technique to the aspiring players.
Hyperbolism: Though this is, like its root word, also a noun, it tends to characterize a specific, singular act of hyperbole rather than the practice of gross overstatement in general.
Example: The hyperbolism in his description of the looming exam lessened his friend's anxiety, bringing a goofy grin to his face.
In Literature
From Vee Hoffman's Acclamation:
I never thought people actually woke up the way I did that morning. I always figured it was hyperbole and massive overcompensation to say that you woke up grinning, woke up in a state of contentment and excitement for the smallest things.
Hoffman's narrator is remarking here that they believed waking up with a smile on one's face could not possibly be literally true, that is, until it happened to them.
Mnemonic
- A hyperbole is too hyper-exaggerated to believe.
- A hyper-bowl that could fit a million gallons of soup is a hyperbole.
Tags
Metaphor, Math.
Bring out the linguist in you! What is your own interpretation of hyperbole. Did you use hyperbole in a game? Provide an example sentence or a literary quote.