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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

hyperbole

/haɪˈpɝbəli/

Press play to hear how to pronounce hyperbole.

American Pronunciation Guide · 1:13
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Hear the ending as two syllables.

Stress the second syllable. The ending sounds like uh-lee, and hy sounds like high.

TRY SAYING
That description is hyperbole.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

What does hyperbole mean?

noun

  1. Deliberate overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.
  2. An instance or example of such overstatement.
More meanings (1)

noun

  1. (obsolete) A hyperbola.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/haɪˈpɝbəli/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

After seeing the wreck of a book which these persons have been busy with, one appreciates the fine Greek hyperbole.
Andrew LangThe LibraryProject Gutenberg ebook #2018
A quick and earnest way of speaking, as mine is, is apt to run into hyperbole.
Michel de MontaigneEssays of Michel de Montaigne — CompleteTranslated by Charles CottonProject Gutenberg ebook #3600
More book examples (3)
What had been poetic intensity became all at once rhetorical hyperbole.
James Russell LowellMy Garden AcquaintanceProject Gutenberg ebook #880
“I’d marry the W–––– of Babylon rather than do anything dishonourable! No reflection on you, my dear. It is a mere rhetorical figure—what they call in the books, hyperbole.”
Thomas HardyJude the ObscureProject Gutenberg ebook #153
And if he resorted to hyperbole at times in his advertisements, it was always his boast that no one ever went away from his Museum, without having received the worth of his money.
Joel BentonA Unique Story of a Marvellous Career: Life of Hon. Phineas T. BarnumProject Gutenberg ebook #1576