exaggerated response
Blown out proportion
An exaggerated response is a reaction disproportionate to its cause—more intense, dramatic, or elaborate than the situation warrants.
The phrase often carries implicit criticism: Crying over a paper cut is an exaggerated response.
In medicine and psychology, it may describe heightened physiological or emotional reactions: The patient showed an exaggerated response to mild stimuli.
- overreactionDisproportionate emotional response
- dramaticStrikingly expressive or sudden
- over the topExcessively theatrical or extreme
- histrionicExaggeratedly emotional in behavior
- melodramaticExaggeratedly emotional in expression
theatrical · making a scene · hyperbole · storm in a teacup · hysteria · tantrum · meltdown · outburst · freakout · sensational · overwrought · hyperventilating · clutching pearls · pearl clutching · catastrophizing · drama queen · inflated · amplified
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