Munchausen is a surname used to describe a person who fabricates or exaggerates stories, often for attention; in medicine, Munchausen syndrome (now called factitious disorder) refers to a patient who feigns illness. The term originated from the 18th‑century fictional character Baron Münchhausen, whose tall tales inspired the modern sense of extravagant lying. As a proper noun, it’s typically pronounced with stress on the second syllable in many uses.
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