Standard Lemma guide

overstatement

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: OW1 V ER0 S T EY2 T M AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An exaggeration; a statement in excess of what is reasonable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The story he gave was something of an overstatement of the facts.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The tendency to overstate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • She had a knack for overstatement.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

making to seem more important than it really is

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: exaggeration, magnification

Antonyms: understatement

Broader terms: misrepresentation, deceit, deception

History

Etymology

From overstate + -ment or over- + statement.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Spanish: sobreestimación — noun
  • Spanish: supervaloración — noun