# 言过其实

yán guò qí shí

Exaggerate beyond the facts

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Words exceed reality

**Traditional Chinese:** 言過其實

**Register:** Critical · general

[Perspective](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/perspective)

## When to use it

Criticize overstated claims or descriptions.

May be careless enthusiasm rather than deliberate deceit.

## Understanding the expression

The words extend beyond what the facts can support. The expression describes exaggerated praise, advertising, or accounts of an event. It does not automatically claim that everything said is false; part may be accurate while the degree is inflated. A fair correction identifies the gap between statement and evidence. The motive may be excitement, marketing, or deception, so distinguish overstatement itself from assumptions about why the speaker produced it in the first place.

## Examples

广告言过其实，效果没那么好。

### Traditional Chinese

廣告言過其實，效果沒那麼好。

guǎng gào yán guò qí shí ， xiào guǒ méi nà me hǎo 。

The advertisement exaggerates the actual effect.

他把一次小故障说成灾难，言过其实。

### Traditional Chinese

他把一次小故障說成災難，言過其實。

tā bǎ yí cì xiǎo gù zhàng shuō chéng zāi nàn ， yán guò qí shí 。

Calling a minor fault a disaster is exaggerated.

这篇评论有些言过其实。

### Traditional Chinese

這篇評論有些言過其實。

zhè piān píng lùn yǒu xiē yán guò qí shí 。

The review overstates its claims somewhat.

她用数据纠正了言过其实的说法。

### Traditional Chinese

她用數據糾正了言過其實的說法。

tā yòng shù jù jiū zhèng le yán guò qí shí de shuō fǎ 。

She used data to correct the exaggerated claim.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E8%A8%80%E9%81%8E%E5%85%B6%E5%AF%A6)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=652&webMd=1&la=0)

## Keep exploring

- [言简意赅 yán jiǎn yì gāi Be concise yet comprehensive ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/yan-jian-yi-gai)

- [言之有物 yán zhī yǒu wù Say something substantive ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/yan-zhi-you-wu)

- [咬文嚼字 yǎo wén jiáo zì Focus excessively on wording ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/yao-wen-jiao-zi)

- [夜郎自大 yè láng zì dà Be absurdly self-important through ignorance ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/ye-lang-zi-da)

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