exaggera

Exaggera is a term used in contemporary rhetoric and discourse analysis to describe a class of deliberate exaggeration strategies that stack intensification across imagery, events, and attributes. Although not yet established as a formal figure of speech in major reference works, exaggera appears in online commentary, satire, and marketing, where it serves to heighten affect and memorability rather than to present factual claims.

Characteristics include layering multiple intensifiers (for example, extremely, unbelievably, utterly) with vivid or fantastical imagery, and often a rapid alternation between scales of magnitude. Exaggera is frequently multimodal, combining linguistic exaggeration with visual or sonic cues in memes and advertising. The device is typically used for humorous effect, social bonding, or persuasive impact, particularly in fast-moving digital contexts.

Origins are diffuse; the term has circulated in blogs and discussion forums since the 2010s, with no consensus on a canonical definition. Some analysts treat exaggera as a family of related phenomena rather than a single device, overlapping with but distinct from traditional hyperbole and amplification.

Examples include lines like: "This pizza is so good it could power a rocket," or "That concert was so loud it recreated a thunderstorm in the arena." Related concepts include hyperbole and amplification.