Which figure of speech uses deliberate exaggeration or overstatement?

• A. Simile
• B. Metaphor
• C. Hyperbole
• D. Personification

Answer: (C)

This item tests recognizing a figure of speech that uses deliberate exaggeration. Hyperbole relies on making something seem much more dramatic or extreme than it actually is to create emphasis or humor. For example, saying “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” isn’t meant to be taken literally, but it shows just how strong the hunger feels.

The other figures of speech work differently: a simile compares two things using like or as (for example, “as hungry as a bear”). A metaphor makes a direct comparison by saying one thing is another (for example, “hunger is a monster”). Personification gives human traits to nonhuman things (for example, “the wind whispered”).

So the choice that uses exaggeration to make a point is hyperbole.