cường điệu
Definition
Verb:
- To exaggerate: To represent something as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it actually is.
- To overstate: To describe or explain something in a way that makes it seem more important or severe than the reality.
Adjective (derived usage):
- Exaggerated / Overstated: Describing a statement, description, or artistic representation that is intentionally made more dramatic or intense than the truth.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Đừng cường điệu mức độ nghiêm trọng của vấn đề. (Don't exaggerate the severity of the problem.)
- Bài báo đó đã cường điệu sự thật. (That article overstated the truth.)
- Adjective:
- Đó là một lời tuyên bố cường điệu. (That is an exaggerated statement.)
- Phong cách diễn xuất của anh ấy hơi cường điệu. (His acting style is a bit overstated.)
Advanced Usage
- "cường điệu hóa": to hyperbolize; to make something deliberately exaggerated, often in rhetoric or art.
- Nhà văn thường cường điệu hóa tính cách nhân vật để gây ấn tượng. (Writers often hyperbolize a character's traits to make an impression.)
Variants and Related Words
- Phóng đại (v): to magnify, to amplify. Often used interchangeably with "cường điệu" but can imply making something seem larger in scope or importance.
- Anh ấy có thói quen phóng đại thành tích của mình. (He has a habit of magnifying his achievements.)
Synonyms
- Exaggerate: To overstate the truth.
- Overstate: To express or state something too strongly.
- Hyperbolize: To use exaggerated statements not meant to be taken literally.
- Amplify: To enlarge or increase beyond the normal (often in a figurative sense).
Related Idioms
- Nói quá lên / Nói ngoa: (idiomatic phrases meaning "to talk big" or "to speak extravagantly") These are more colloquial synonyms for making exaggerated claims.
- Đừng nghe anh ta, anh ta chỉ đang nói quá lên thôi. (Don't listen to him; he's just talking big.)