hyperbolism
Tendency toward overstatement
Hyperbolism is the practice or tendency of using hyperbole—extravagant exaggeration for effect.
The term describes a rhetorical habit rather than a single instance: His hyperbolism made every minor setback sound like a catastrophe.
It can characterize a person's speaking style or a cultural tendency toward overstatement.
Increase in intensity
- embellishmentDecorative addition or exaggeration
- magnificationDegree of visual enlargement
- inflationSustained price level increase
- distortionTwisting from original state
caricature · aggrandizement · overemphasis · overdramatization · stretching · puffery · grandiloquence · bombast
Understatement via negation
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- oxymoronSelf-contradicting phrase device
euphemism · irony · satire · allegory · figurative language · trope · ornament · flourish
Stress placed on syllables
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- highlightingEmphasizing key parts
- underscoringStressing for importance
- foregroundingMaking textual features prominent
overemphasis · overstressing · insistence · pressing · hammering · belaboring · overplaying
Forceful emotional passion
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- passionIntense emotional drive
- ardorIntense emotional warmth
- zealIntense driving devotion
extremity · forcefulness · emphatic · overwrought · histrionic · melodramatic · theatrical · flamboyant
amplification
Increase in intensity
- embellishmentDecorative addition or exaggeration
- magnificationDegree of visual enlargement
- inflationSustained price level increase
distortion · caricature · aggrandizement · overemphasis · overdramatization · stretching · puffery · grandiloquence · bombast · bloat
litotes
Understatement via negation
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
oxymoron · euphemism · irony · satire · allegory · figurative language · trope · ornament · flourish · purple prose
accentuation
Stress placed on syllables
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- highlightingEmphasizing key parts
- underscoringStressing for importance
foregrounding · overemphasis · overstressing · insistence · pressing · hammering · belaboring · overplaying
vehemence
Forceful emotional passion
zeal · extremity · forcefulness · emphatic · overwrought · histrionic · melodramatic · theatrical · flamboyant · effusive
hyperbolismunderstatement
Intentional diminishment for effect
litotes · meiosis · minimization · diminution · downplaying
hyperbolismunderstatement
Intentional diminishment for effect
restraint · moderation · plainness · matter-of-factness · sobriety
hyperbolic, hyperbolize, hyperbolizing, hyperbolized, hyperbolically, hyperbolizes, hyperbolical