Hyperbole – Meaning, Definition, Daily Usage and Examples

Hyperbole 

Occasionally we use phrases that make sense but aren’t supposed to be accepted seriously; these are examples of ‘hyperbole.’ You may already be familiar with the numerous figurative phrases in the English syntax, and in this article, we will discuss hyperbole. Hyperbole is a word or phrase that employs overstatement to convey a message or emphasize something. It’s the inverse of oversimplification. ‘Excess’ is what the term hyperbole signifies. Employing hyperbole increases interest and emotion in our language, making it interesting for our listeners and readers and enabling communication to reality. This may be utilized to express a claim more accurately or to emphasize a notion.

Hyperbole Definition:

Hyperbole is a figurative language and textual style that achieves enhanced significance by purposeful overreaction. Hyperbole is a remark or declaration that is brazenly overblown or exaggerated to add importance to the objective of being technically truthful. You use hyperbole while you overstate anything. Hyperbole is utilized in everyday interactions, speeches, poetry, movies, and writing. When utilizing hyperbole, make sure individuals who are listening to or reading it realize the fact that it’s a hyperbole.

Famous Examples of Hyperbole:

1. He laughs so loudly that the whole world can hear him.
2. I am so thirsty I can drink an ocean.
3. My homework appears to be never-ending.
4. This headache is killing me.
5. Your brain is the size of a grain.
6. He is so powerful he could break the wall.
7. He walks a million miles to go to work.
8. It took forever to complete this work. 
9. I have met him a thousand times.
10. If you go out because it’s too hot outside, you can end up with fries.

How to use Hyperbole to Add Emphasis:

Based on how it’s utilized, hyperbole in conversation as well as language can provide a strong or critical tone to a message. Hyperbole employs excessive to stress a point instead of terms that indicate a level of perfection. Keep the following in your thoughts to make sure that your exaggeration provides the emphasis you desire:

1. What are you exaggerating: a sensation or an amount?
2. In professional writing, you would not utilize exaggeration.
3. Is it logical and natural sounding?
4. When all things are hyperbolic, hyperbole loses its impact.

Where to use Hyperbole:

In ordinary conversation, we frequently employ hyperbole to make the situation sound more sensational than they are. In language, authors utilize hyperbole to accentuate personal characteristics or tale topics. Yet, hyperbole captures the viewer’s interest and draws everyone into the tale. In shows and movie scenes, hyperbole creates remarkable sentences that we often remembered.

Hyperbole in Everyday Use:

1. I am dying of hunger.
2. Her dress costs millions of dollars.
3. This is the best dinner in the world.
4. He thinks a lot his head is spinning.
5. My project is going to take years.
6. The bag weighs a ton.
7. I can smell the tasty food from a mile away.
8. Her hairs are longer than a building.
9. When she got hurt, she cries a bucket.
10. I can eat a mountain of noodles.

When to Use Hyperbole:

Hyperbole can be used to:

1. Overstate a claim.
2. Capture the interest of the audience.
3. Make a somewhat boring explanation more interesting.
4. Make the situation more amusing.
5. Highlight anything regarding an occurrence, individual, or circumstance.
6. Create the setting for the narrative.
7. It might be employed as a dramatic tactic to convince people of the writer’s viewpoint using a more appealing explanation.
8. Demonstrate the distinction between the two concepts.

Hyperbole from Movies:

1. You sit on a throne of lies. (Elf)
2. To infinity and beyond! (Toy Story)
3. You’ll shoot your eye out. (A Christmas Story)
4. Love means never having to say you’re sorry. (Love Story)
5. I’m the king of the world! (Titanic)
6. I’m hungry, Mother, I’m hungry…I’m so hungry I could eat a whole elephant! (101 Dalmatians)
7. As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again. (Gone With the Wind)
8. You can’t! It’s impossible! I’m far too busy, so ask me now before I again become sane. (The Incredibles)
9. I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore! (Network)
10. Can I use the facilities? Because being pregnant makes me pee like Seabiscuit! (Juno)

Hyperbole from Literature:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.

 2. Old Times on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
I was quaking from head to foot and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far.

3. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.

4.Babe the Blue Ox Retold by S.E. Schlosser
Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid afore they could be heard. People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were talking about the night before.

5. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
There was a firestorm out there. Dresden was one big flame. The one flame ate everything organic, everything that would burn.

Hyperbole from Songs & Poems:

1. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

2. Blank Space by Taylor Swift:

Boys only want love if it’s torture
Don’t say I didn’t say, I didn’t warn ya

3. Cry Me a River by Ella Fitzgerald

Now you say you’re lonely
You cried the long night through
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you

4. It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls

It’s raining men, hallelujah
It’s raining men, every specimen
Tall, blonde, dark, and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean

5. Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks

I’ve got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I’ll be okay

Hyperbole in our daily uses:

1. It will take ages to finish my painting.
2. The new baby was a size of pea.
3. It’s so cold outside that Polar bears are wearing jackets.
4. I walk thousands of miles every day.
5. It took forever to cut these grasses.
6. Her song was never-ending.
7. He was so irritated that he yelled like a lion.
8. This loud music is killing me.
9. His watch costs a million rupees.
10. After studying the whole night my head was spinning.

Practice Questions on Hyperbole:

Directions (Q 1-10) : Change the following sentences using hyperbole.

1. He has a load of work.
2. My dog is very cute.
3. I want to sleep.
4. This tree is very old.
5. I can type very fast.
6. I can’t play, I have lots of homework.
7. His new car is very fast.
8. Holidays will be a long time coming.
9. I am very afraid.
10. There was still plenty of food available.

Answers:

1. He is buried under a mountain of work.
2. My dog is the cutest animal on this planet.
3. I can sleep for a year.
4. This tree is older than earth.
5. I can type faster than the speed of light.
6. I can’t play, I have a million of homework.
7. His new car is faster than the wind.
8. Holidays will never come.
9. I am dying of fear.
10. There was enough food to feed the country.

Frequently Asked Questions on Hyperbole:

Que.1 What is the definition of Hyperbole?

Ans. Hyperbole is a figurative language and textual style that achieves enhanced significance by purposeful overreaction. Hyperbole is a remark or declaration that is brazenly overblown or exaggerated to add importance to the objective of being technically truthful. You use hyperbole while you overstate anything. Hyperbole is utilized in everyday interactions, speeches, poetry, movies, and writing. When utilizing hyperbole, make sure individuals who are listening to or reading it realize the fact that it’s a hyperbole.

Que.2 How can Hyperbole be identified in English Grammar?

Ans. In ordinary conversation, we frequently employ hyperbole to make the situation sound more sensational than they are. In language, authors utilize hyperbole to accentuate personal characteristics or tale topics. Yet, hyperbole captures the viewer’s interest and draws everyone into the tale. In shows and movie scenes, hyperbole creates remarkable sentences that we often remembered.

Que.3 Give some examples of Hyperbole.

Ans. 

1. He laughs so loudly that the whole world can hear him.
2. I am so thirsty I can drink an ocean.
3. My homework appears to be never-ending.
4. This headache is killing me.
5. Your brain is the size of a grain.
6. He is so powerful he could break the wall.
7. He walks a million miles to go to work.
8. It took forever to complete this work. 
9. I have met him a thousand times.
10. If you go out because it’s too hot outside, you can end up with fries.

Que.4 Justify ‘Hyperbole Portrays the Writer’s Bias’.

Ans. Figure of speech includes hyperbole. It is frequently communicated through the use of either a simile or metaphor. A non-hyperbolic simile or metaphor is essential since it offers an acceptable parallel that helps the audience appreciate the actual notion. The connection in a hyperbolic simile or metaphor is purposefully unsuitable, yet the hyperbole reveals the author’s perspective on the actual notion.