Reference reading
high per buh lee
Reference reading0:00 / Listen
How to pronounce hyperbole
Hyperbole is pronounced hy-PUR-buh-lee: four syllables, stress on the second, and the final e is said "ee".
hyperbole
- IPA
- /haɪˈpɜːrbəli/
- Say it like
- hy-PUR-buh-lee
hyPURbuhlee
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Same four syllables and stress in both. Americans sound the r in PUR; standard British English drops it, so it sounds closer to hy-PUH-buh-lee.
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Compare a reference reading, a direct machine reading, and a contextual sentence. These are not separate US and UK recordings.
Direct machine reading
hyperbole
Direct machine reading0:00 / Listen
In a sentence
这是修辞上的夸张。
In a sentence0:00 / Listen
COMMON MISTAKES
How people get hyperbole wrong
Often heard
HY-per-bowl
Reading it as hyper + bowl, as in Super Bowl, and treating the final e as silent. The word ends in a full "lee" syllable, and the stress is on PUR.
Sayhy-PUR-buh-lee
Often heard
hy-per-BOH-lee
Borrowing the stress of the adjective hyperbolic (hy-per-BOL-ik). The noun hyperbole moves the stress back to the second syllable.
Sayhy-PUR-buh-lee
IN A SENTENCE
Hear hyperbole in a sentence
Saying you have a million emails to answer is hyperbole, but it makes the point.
The review was full of hyperbole, calling the movie the greatest ever made.
Writers use hyperbole to add humor or emphasis, not to state literal facts.
PRACTICE
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Reference
Yours
What does hyperbole mean?
Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally. Everyday examples include "I've told you a thousand times", "this bag weighs a ton" and "I could sleep for a year". In rhetoric and literature it is a figure of speech; in news and advertising the word often describes overblown claims.
The word entered English in the late Middle English period, through Latin from Greek hyperbolē, "excess", built from hyper, "above, beyond", and ballein, "to throw". The picture is of throwing beyond the mark. The adjective is hyperbolic (hy-per-BOL-ik), which shifts the stress to the third syllable.
The same Greek root gives hyperbola, the mathematical curve, pronounced hy-PUR-buh-luh. The two words differ only in their final vowel, so if you can say hyperbola, you can say hyperbole.
FAQ
hyperbole pronunciation FAQ
The questions people ask most when they look up hyperbole.
Is it pronounced hy-PUR-buh-lee or HY-per-bowl?+
Hy-PUR-buh-lee. Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Oxford and American Heritage all give four syllables with the stress on the second. HY-per-bowl is a spelling pronunciation and is considered incorrect.
Do Americans and Brits say hyperbole differently?+
Only slightly. Both stress the second syllable and end with "ee". Americans pronounce the r (/haɪˈpɜːrbəli/), while standard British English leaves it out (/haɪˈpɜːbəli/).
Why is hyperbole pronounced with an "ee" at the end?+
It keeps its Greek spelling. In Greek hyperbolē the final letter was a long vowel, and English kept it as an "ee" sound, just as in catastrophe, apostrophe and epitome.
How do you pronounce hyperbolic?+
Hyperbolic is pronounced hy-per-BOL-ik (US /ˌhaɪpərˈbɑːlɪk/, UK /ˌhaɪpəˈbɒlɪk/), with the stress on the third syllable. That shift is why people sometimes mis-stress the noun hyperbole.
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