Polar Games
Guide

Hyperbole examples: 30 funny exaggerations

What hyperbole is, why we use it, how it differs from lying and understatement, and 30 hyperbole examples from daily life, school and gaming.

By Polarzinho ·

Polarzinho hugging a gigantic bamboo stalk that rises into the clouds, in a landscape with waterfalls

I am so hungry I could eat a whole bamboo forest. I could not. But the sentence makes it clear how hungry I am, and that is what hyperbole is for.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that exaggerates on purpose to add emphasis. Nobody takes it literally, and that is the fun part.

Play Stop! Play Letter River

Everyday hyperbole examples

  1. I almost died laughing
  2. I have told you a million times
  3. I am starving
  4. I cried an ocean of tears
  5. I waited forever
  6. This bag weighs a ton
  7. I have a million things to do
  8. I am dead tired
  9. I turned as red as a tomato
  10. It is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk
  11. My backpack has the whole world inside
  12. I slept for a hundred years

Hyperbole at school and at home

  1. That test had a thousand questions
  2. The lunch line went around the block
  3. My brother takes three hours in the shower
  4. The teacher has eyes in the back of her head
  5. This homework never ends
  6. Grandma cooks enough food for an army
  7. My room is a war zone
  8. I read that book in the blink of an eye
  9. Recess lasted one second

Hyperbole in gaming

  1. I have played this level a thousand times
  2. This boss has infinite health
  3. My thumb is going to fall off
  4. I waited an eternity on the loading screen
  5. This game is impossible
  6. My friend plays at the speed of light
  7. I died so many times I can play it with my eyes closed
  8. His score went to the moon
  9. My internet is slower than a turtle

Hyperbole, lying or understatement?

  • Hyperbole: an exaggeration everyone knows is not literal ("I almost died laughing")
  • Lying: something false you want people to believe
  • Understatement: the opposite of hyperbole, making something sound smaller ("it is a bit chilly" in a blizzard)

The blog also has a full post on figurative language, with similes, metaphors, irony and more.

Practice by playing

In Stop!, the round lasts one second and the pressure weighs a thousand tons. Pure hyperbole, but that is how it feels.

Stop! home screen with the options to play with the crowd or create a room with friends

PolarzinhoIn Stop! I wrote so fast my pencil caught fire. Hyperbole. The pencil is fine.

Stop!: play with the crowd or create a room with friends.

And in Letter River, every clue is vocabulary practice.

Letter River letter board next to the list of clues, with a river and mountains behind

PolarzinhoThe otter in Letter River is the calmest creature in the universe. Maybe hyperbole. Maybe not.

Letter River: the letter board and the clues beside it.

FAQ

What is hyperbole?

A figure of speech that exaggerates on purpose for emphasis: "I almost died laughing".

Is hyperbole the same as lying?

No. With hyperbole, everyone knows it is an exaggeration. A lie is meant to deceive.

What is the opposite of hyperbole?

Understatement, which makes something sound smaller than it is.

Your turn

Write three hyperboles about your day. The more exaggerated, the better.

Play Stop! Play Letter River