noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of inflatable
Explanation
Something inflatable can be blown up or filled with air. A balloon is inflatable — you can either blow it up, or fill it with helium so that it floats. Car tires are inflatable, and so are beach balls, bicycle inner tubes, floating pool toys, bouncy castles, air mattresses, and some lightweight boats. If you're in a car accident, the inflatable air bag will fill quickly to protect you from hitting the dashboard. The adjective inflatable comes from the Latin inflare, "to blow into or puff up."
Vocabulary lists containing inflatable
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:
City's fans also waved hundreds of inflatable bananas, an old habit when they spent time in the lower leagues in reduced circumstances.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Rather than try to flee, the larger speedboat began circling the inflatable, taunting the four Civil Guard officers aboard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Look one way and there was a Bitcoin-themed art gallery featuring a 6-foot skull made of motherboards; look the other, and there was a massive inflatable monkey wearing an orange crown.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
The Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar to serve as Donald Trump's presidential jet experienced a takeoff delay Wednesday as inspectors checked one of its inflatable slides used for emergency evacuations.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The inflatable shark naturally led to the puddle of heavy cream, which, if lapped from the floor with slow, steady precision, could account for up to twenty minutes of valuable stage time.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Hundreds of migrants have entered Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, with many swimming and using inflatables to cross from Morocco.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Elsewhere, locals flocked to the Canal Saint-Martin in the north of the city, some with inflatables, after the authorities allowed swimming there due to the heat.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
The inflatables never dried, Gabriel said, and the cold and mud made them even less appealing to visitors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025
And the inflatables weren’t just there having a good time.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2025
Available inflatables included a couple of sharks, a dinosaur or two, at least one cow and a banana, all ready to be pumped up for the cause.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2025
Definitions 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.
