deflate
- 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.
- to become deflated.
Origin of deflate
Related Words for deflating
depress, exhaust, diminish, disconcert, mortify, collapse, void, squash, devalue, decrease, depreciate, puncture, shrink, empty, flatten, dash, debunk, humble, chasten, dispiritExamples from the Web for deflating
Contemporary Examples of deflating
The Germans were forced into a pocket, the shape of a deflating balloon.
Sales would skyrocket with legalization, but prices would plummet, deflating the overall market value.
Instead, the deflating moment came when 36–1 long shot Birdstone chased down the frontrunning Smarty Jones on the home stretch.
But talk of millions and billions is deflating to voters who gave small amounts to their favorite candidates.
He may not inspire warmth or elation; in fact, the sight and sound of him is vaguely depressing, and deflating.
Historical Examples of deflating
Her gas escaped to mix with air, and the air of her rent balloonette poured into her deflating gas-chambers.
The War in the AirHerbert George Wells
The best filled paunches cannot resist them; deflating little by little, they make the heaviest light.
The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Vol. II (of 2)Charles de Coster
deflate
- to collapse or cause to collapse through the release of gas
- (tr) to take away the self-esteem or conceit from
- economics to cause deflation of (an economy, the money supply, etc)
Word Origin for deflate
Word Origin and History for deflating
deflate
1891, in reference to balloons, coinage based on inflate. Latin deflare meant "to blow away," but in the modern word the prefix is taken in the sense of "down." Related: Deflated; deflating.