esagerate

Esagerate is the second-person plural present indicative and the imperative form for voi of the Italian verb esagerare, which means to exaggerate or to overstate. The verb is commonly used to describe making something appear more extreme or important than it really is. Its basic present tense forms are: io esagero, tu esageri, lui/lei esagera, noi esageriamo, voi esagerate, loro esagerano. The passato prossimo is formed with avere: ho esagerato.

Usage notes and examples: Esagerare is used with statements, numbers, claims, and descriptions that go beyond the truth or proportion. Common phrases include non esagerare (don’t exaggerate) and esagerare con qualcosa (to exaggerate with something). The form esagerate can appear in imperatives for voi, as in Esagerate! (Exaggerate!). It can also appear as the feminine plural adjective esagerate in phrases like proposte esagerate (exaggerated proposals), where it agrees with a feminine plural noun.

Related forms: The verb esagerare has the masculine/feminine forms esagerato (exaggerated) and esagerata, used as adjectives, and esagerazione as the noun meaning “an exaggeration.” The words appear in similar contexts to describe overstated statements, features, or quantities.

Etymology and classification: Esagerare is a Romance-language verb of Italian origin. It is related to the semantic family of exaggeration found in many languages, and the English word exaggerate shares a cognate meaning. The exact historical path of the word traces through Italian and, like many Romance verbs, reflects a combination of prefix and root commonly used to convey overstating or magnifying.