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. References

External links Examples of hyperbole in poetry