I've always been curious about how one English verb can sprout so many shades in Urdu, and 'exaggerate' is a neat example. The straightforward, commonly accepted formal translation is مبالغہ کرنا (mubāligha karnā) — that's what you'll see in newspapers, formal essays, and dictionaries. From that root you get the noun مبالغہ (mubāligha), the adjective مبالغہآمیز (mubāligha-āmaiz), and the phrase مبالغہ آرائی (mubāligha ārāʼī) when you want a slightly literary tone. Those are the go-to formal terms.
If you dig a little deeper, there are other formal or semi-formal options depending on nuance. For neutral formal usage I often reach for حقیقت سے بڑھا کر بیان کرنا (haqīqat se baṛhā kar bayān karnā) — literally ‘to describe something amplified beyond the truth’ — which is perfect in academic or legal contexts where you want to avoid idiom. غلو کرنا (ghulu karnā) is another word that feels formal and a bit weighty; it’s often used in religious or ethical critique (e.g., 'حمد میں غلو' meaning excessive
praise), so it carries a slightly different register and implication. For stylistic emphasis in writing you might use مبالغہ آمیز انداز اختیار کرنا (mubāligha-āmaiz andāz ikhtiyār karnā).
Practical examples help me pick the right one: a newspaper headline would likely say اُس نے واقعہ کو مبالغہ کرکے پیش کیا (us ne wāqiʻah ko mubāligha karke paish kiyā) — 'he/she exaggerated the event.' In literary critique I might write کہ اس بیانیے میں مبالغہآمیز انداز ہے (keh is bayāniye mein mubāligha-āmaiz andāz hai). For spoken, slightly formal speech, بڑھا چڑھا کر کہنا (baṛhā chirhā kar kahnā) is understood but less bookish. Antonyms worth noting are اعتدال (iʻtidāl — moderation), حقیقت پسند (haqīqat pasand — realistic), or سچّا/سادہ انداز (sachchā/sādah andāz) when you want to stress non-exaggeration.
So yes — there are formal synonyms, and the right pick depends on context: legal/academic vs. literary vs. religious critique. I tend to favor مبالغہ کرنا for general formal use, حقیقت سے بڑھا کر بیان کرنا when I want to be extra precise, and غلو کرنا for moral or theological discussion. It’s fun to watch how small shifts in phrasing change the tone; language really is an outfit you dress differently for every occasion.