- hyperbole
- 1529, from L. hyperbole, from Gk. hyperbole "exaggeration, extravagance," related to hyperballein "to throw over or beyond," from hyper- "beyond" + bole "a throwing, a casting, the stroke of a missile, bolt, beam," from bol-, nom. stem of ballein "to throw" (see ballistics). Rhetorical sense is found in Aristotle and Isocrates.