noun
adjective
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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:
Early on Saturday, Spanish officials said they began installing a makeshift, inflatable barrier that extends out some 500 yards from a breakwater where some of the migrants had swum into the enclave.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Operation Fortitude saw the Allies deploy a faux “First U.S. Army Group” of inflatable tanks and wooden planes to distract from the D-Day invasion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
State media has been airing footage of rescuers at work, wearing life vests and helmets and riding inflatable boats.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
On the water, teenagers jostle for control of an inflatable mattress -- the kind taken down sleep on in underground metro stations during Russia's nightly barrages.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
A constant regurgitation of the top-twenty pop songs bursts from the open door, and a giant, inflatable unicorn is resting its plastic horn against the living room window.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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 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
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
The pulsating music, giant inflatables tossed into the crowd and sudden blasts of fog can overstimulate kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 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.
