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:
"It's too early to tell," he said, clutching an inflatable palm tree as students prepared for the Stanford graduation tradition known as the "Wacky Walk".
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
A giant inflatable UFC Freedom 250 boxing glove that looks vaguely like the Black Lives Matter fist.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
The inflatable hardshell BOGAFiT mat that’s used — or “floating training platform,” as the class refers to it — looks like a wide paddleboard with a slightly raised yoga mat on its surface.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Another block and a half lands you at Barriles, decorated in Colombian flags and giant inflatable soccer balls while salsa blares at stupefying volume from the speakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 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
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
If you’re looking to go big on your decor, skeletons, gravestones and inflatables are perfect to transform your home into a real-life haunted house.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2025
The DC inflatables were not powerful as symbols the way the Portland frog is; their absurdity did not clash so dramatically against their fellow goofy marchers.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2025
Bulgarian authorities have begun using health and safety laws to seize shipments of inflatables from Turkey.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 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.
