überhöhten

Überhöhten is a German verb form derived from überhöhen, itself a combination of über- (over, excessive) and erhöhen (to heighten, to raise). The prefix signals excess, and the base verb denotes raising or increasing. In usage, überhöhen can mean to raise something beyond its proper height, but more commonly it denotes exaggerating or overemphasizing something, particularly in evaluative or rhetorical contexts. In everyday German, übertreiben is typically the preferred term when meaning “to exaggerate,” while überhöhen tends to appear in formal, literary, or specialized writing.

Grammatical note: überhöhten is the Präteritum (simple past) form used with the subjects wir and sie/Sie. The corresponding singular forms are überhöhte (ich, er, sie). Like many German verbs with the über- prefix, the exact usage may vary by register, and in colloquial speech überhöhen is far less common than übertreiben for the sense of exaggeration.

Examples:

- Die Berichte überhöhten die Gefahrenlage. (The reports exaggerated the danger level.)

- Die Werbekampagne überhöhte die Wirkung des Produkts. (The advertising campaign overstated the product’s effect.)

- Der Politiker überhöhte seine Erfolge. (The politician exaggerated his successes.)

- Wir überhöhten die Bedeutung dieses Schritts in der Debatte. (We overemphasized the significance of this step in the debate.)

Related terms include Überhöhung, the noun for overemphasis or heightening, and Überhöhe, used in technical contexts to denote an excessive height. See also übertreiben for a more common synonym in everyday German.