hyperbole
hye-PUR-buh-leenounMeaning deliberate exaggeration for effect
Memory hook HYPER: words thrown way OVER the top. Jonah staggers in with a small backpack, groaning, “This weighs a TON! I’m dying!” His over-the-top words are hyperbole.
“I’ve told you a million times” is hyperbole.
In context When Jonah said his backpack weighed a ton, he was using hyperbole; it was heavy, but he carried it the whole mile to school.
Similar exaggeration, overstatement, embellishment
Opposite understatement
From Greek hyperbole, “excess,” from hyperballein (to throw beyond): hyper (beyond) + ballein (to throw).