noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
When John Robinson remarried in late 2022, his guests at the Duquesne Club in downtown Pittsburgh were greeted with an inflatable rat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
An inflatable unicorn with rainbow-coloured tail wandered through the crowd with a sign reading "Leave the Constitution in Peace" round its neck.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
Across the tent, in a display of performance art, Amanda Ross-Ho continuously pushes a giant, inflatable Earth around a soccer field, symbolic of “the labor it takes to just keep things going all the time.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
Footage shows the official arriving onshore in an inflatable small boat and handing over the eviction notice to Mandarin at a make-shift camp.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
I notice a rolled-up sleeping bag in a corner along with an inflatable camping pillow.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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.
