Sometimes, people exaggerate, and it’s often harmless and done for amusement. We’ve all heard of stories like the HUGE fish that got away! Most people who exaggerate don’t see it as lying. They may see it as a little white lie, but more often than not, they see it as only stretching the truth a little, to make their story more entertaining.

If a person embellishes or overstates a characteristic or quality of a person, situation, or object, it is seen as exaggerating. You may notice that someone exaggerates all the time, and it can become annoying. If it’s obvious when they are, you may find you don’t bother listening to their stories completely because you can’t believe them anyway.

Why Do People Exaggerate?

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Appearances can be deceiving. You can easily trust someone you barely know, simply because you perceive them to be honest and decent. They may ‘appear’ to be trustworthy and you may not see that they are trying to deceive you.

If this has happened in the past, have you blamed yourself for being naïve or thought yourself stupid for being blinded by their cunningness? If you have, don’t punish yourself unfairly. It’s not your fault that you are trusting and that some others are masters of deceit. Some people have made a life of being excellent at creating lies that are intended to mislead others.

Deceit pertains to a specific act, scheme, or trick to cunningly fool or outwit someone. It is the total opposite of honesty. There are different forms of deceit, but it is a habit or pattern of behavior that someone does intentionally to mislead. A deceitful person is prone to cheat, lie, mislead, hide and falsify the truth. It may cleverly not entail outright lying but can be subtle and trickier. The person misleads others by omitting, concealing, or distorting the truth. Continue reading →