rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to

create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally.

Hyperboles are exaggerations to create emphasis or effect. As a literary device, hyperbole

is often used in poetry, and is frequently encountered in casual speech. An example of

hyperbole is: "The bag weighed a ton." Hyperbole makes the point that the bag was very heavy,

though it probably does not weigh a ton. In rhetoric, some opposites of hyperbole are

meiosis, litotes, understatement, lackluster, prosaic, dull and bathos (the 'letdown' after

a hyperbole in a phrase).