Overstatement can be intentional or accidental. It's usually considered hyperbole, but may also be used as idiomatic emphasis. Many types of adjective usage are somewhat overstated, largely to create emphasis and draw attention to the subject. Some usage, however, like a sales pitch, is considered overstatement by definition, even if purely factual. The real basis for deciding what constitutes an overstatement is direct assessment. |
Examples of Overstatement:
| Everybody says I overstate everything.
You call it a God, I call it a rubber duck. I'd say one of us is overstating the case.
Don't you think 'We're all doomed!' is a bit of an overstatement, having seen the menu? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overstatement https://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/Groupings/of%20Overstatement.htm |
