Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

overstate

 verb
     
o‧ver‧state [transitive]
to talk about something in a way that makes it seem more important, serious etc than it really is [= exaggerate; ≠ understate]:
To say that all motorists speed in residential areas is overstating the case.
The importance of a child's early years cannot be overstated (=is very important).
—overstatement noun [uncountable and countable]
It's an overstatement to say that the man's a fool.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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