hyperbole
/haɪˈpɝbəli/noun
hyperbole is spelled H-Y-P-E-R-B-O-L-E: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hyperbole means “Deliberate overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hyperbole is hyperboles.
How many letters and syllables are in hyperbole?
| Letters | 9: H-Y-P-E-R-B-O-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hyperbole?
Hyperbole appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hyperbole?
- UK /haɪˈpɜːbəli/
- British /hɑjˈpəːbəlɪj/
- US /haɪˈpɝbəli/
Hyperbole has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hyperbole.ogg, En-au-hyperbole.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hyperbole
- hyperboles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hyperbole mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Deliberate overstatement, particularly extreme overstatement.
- 2
An instance or example of such overstatement.
- 3
obsoleteA hyperbola.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hyperbole in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense rhetorical device:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hyperbole |
| German | Hyperbel, Übertreibung |
| Portuguese | hipérbole |
| Spanish | hipérbole |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.