deflate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
deflates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deflated,
past participle, past
-
deflating
present participle
-
to release the air or gas from (something inflated, as a balloon).
They deflated the tires slightly to allow the truck to drive under the overpass.
-
to depress or reduce (a person or a person's ego, hopes, spirits, etc.); puncture; dash.
Her rebuff thoroughly deflated me.
-
to reduce (currency, prices, etc.) from an inflated condition; to affect with deflation.
verb (used without object)
-
deflates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deflated,
past participle, past
-
deflating
present participle
verb
-
to collapse or cause to collapse through the release of gas
-
(tr) to take away the self-esteem or conceit from
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economics to cause deflation of (an economy, the money supply, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deflatesimple
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deflatessimple
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have deflatedperfect
-
has deflatedperfect
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am deflatingprogressive
-
are deflatingprogressive
-
is deflatingprogressive
-
have been deflatingperfect progressive
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has been deflatingperfect progressive
Past
-
deflatedsimple
-
had deflatedperfect
-
was deflatingprogressive
-
were deflatingprogressive
-
had been deflatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deflate
1890–95; < Latin dēflātus blown off, away (past participle of dēflāre ), equivalent to dē- de- + fl ( āre ) to blow + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To deflate is to let the air out of something. If you deflate the tires on your brother's bike, he won't be able to ride it until he gets them pumped up again. You can deflate anything that's full of air or another gas: an air mattress, an inflatable sled, a helium balloon, or the tires on your car. When something, like a hot air balloon, empties of air, you can also say it deflates. Figuratively, a person can also deflate when they are suddenly drained of self-assurance or cheer: "Hearing him criticize me in front of the class made me deflate."
Vocabulary lists containing deflate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Traders also see a 20% chance the bubble will deflate before July 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Along with “burn rate,” funding gap became part of the financial lexicon in 2000, as the dot-com bubble was starting to deflate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
According to testimony from the two survivors, their flimsy boat began to deflate and take on water after several hours at sea.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Comedy capers like this usually deflate in the third act when their pleasures get punctured by unfunny gunfire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Then, I deflate the bedroom from the inside.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
If the AI bubble ever deflates, these energy companies with no revenue have the farthest to fall and little in the way of a cushion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
It deconstructs the artifice of a rock show, making The 1975 seem more human - but equally, it deflates the excitement of watching a band in full flow.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
But I think that greatly deflates the more potent message that Jonze was trying to deliver.
From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2025
A familiar resolution deflates the status the movie had earned up until that point as a wildly unpredictable work of trashy cleverness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024
The market deflates, with everyone closing up their stalls for the day.
From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
The residual optimism that briefly consumed me slowly deflated.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
Chabria: Hilton, usually full of fight and energy, is looking deflated on stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Social media cut a different pattern, in which individual companies deflated even as the entire market grew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
When the skin has collapsed into your palm like a deflated balloon, you lift the box grater and discover an almost implausible amount of ruby pulp underneath it.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
It felt as though his arm was being deflated.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Getting here now — typing away while I sniffle with a cold, a life I wouldn’t change for the world — required carefully deflating a rapidly overblown ego.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
The boat had travelled between Calais and the UK and was deflating when it was picked up by border force vessels.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Tighter monetary policy was also a factor around the deflating of the dot-com bubble, Perkins notes.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
Customs and Border Protection by roughly 32%, deflating its higher tariff obligations, the 2022 suit alleged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
The storm siren wound down, like a balloon deflating on a slow leak.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
