Synonyms

inflate

American

[in-fleyt] / ɪnˈfleɪt /

verb (used with object)

to distend; swell or puff out; dilate.

The king cobra inflates its hood.

Antonyms:

deflate
to cause to expand or distend with air or gas.

to inflate a balloon.
to puff up with pride, satisfaction, etc.
to elate.
Economics. to expand (money, prices, an economy, etc.) unduly in amount, value, or size; affect with inflation.

verb (used without object)

to become inflated.
to increase, especially suddenly and substantially.

The $10 subscription has inflated to $25.

inflate British

/ ɪnˈfleɪt /

verb

to expand or cause to expand by filling with gas or air

she needed to inflate the tyres
(tr) to cause to increase excessively; puff up; swell

to inflate one's opinion of oneself
(tr) to cause inflation of (prices, money, etc)
(tr) to raise in spirits; elate
(intr) to undergo economic inflation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See expand.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of inflate

First recorded in 1500–20; from Latin inflātus, past participle of inflāre “to blow on or into, puff out,” equivalent to in- in- ² + flā- blow ² + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

Using your own breath or an air pump, you can inflate a balloon — or anything else you need to pump air into. When you inflate something you fill it with air (or any other gas) to make it expand. From the Latin verb inflāre, "to blow into," the word inflate appeared in English in the early 16th century. Although we usually think of the word inflate as referring to blowing air or gas into a balloon or a tire, anything that grows larger, from food prices to an egoist's self-image, can be inflated. When an item becomes scarce, its price is likely to be inflated.

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Vocabulary lists containing inflate

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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:

inflate inflates inflated inflating

Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande and Xu as its boss "violated national laws by engaging in continuous, large-scale financial fraud and other means to inflate assets and conceal liabilities", the court said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

These massive sites, which are proliferating across the country, produce loud noise and pollution, rely on enormous amounts of water and electricity, tax power grids and inflate utility bills.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Players could earn larger rewards by continuing to inflate the balloon, but they could lose everything from that round if it burst.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

The simplest way to escape this debt burden is to do what the U.S. did after 1945, and inflate it away.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

“How do you inflate your balloon, Mr. Scoresby?”

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

LightCounting’s reason is that almost every transceiver component is now scarce and customers have started double ordering, which inflates backlogs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

The currency’s slide inflates the top-line export figure, which is calculated in yen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

Ticketmaster and Live Nation have repeatedly faced criticism from those who say the firm artificially inflates the cost of tickets with fees and service charges.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

"Dominance of a few tech corporations in public infrastructure limits... our flexibility, threatens our security and inflates our software costs," Schroedter told AFP.

From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026

Whatever was in her throat got bigger, like one of those foam bath pellets that inflates in water.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy

Similarly, longtime HSI insiders cautioned that using the agency’s databases and tools to search these lists would yield mismatches and wildly inflated results.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

“That’s an inflated promise. But I will tell you, we will build, and I will tell you, there will be more Californians who own a home,” Becerra said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

AFP images showed residents using rafts and inflated boats to reach higher ground with the help of the state's disaster response officials.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

She uploaded the quote into ChatGPT, which told her it was likely inflated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

After the pool is inflated, Naomi unwinds the hose that Mr. Chapman left at the front of the house.

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Now it’s inflating the dating value of semiconductor-industry bachelors and bachelorettes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

The employees had accused UniCredit of artificially inflating acceptance figures for its offer after Commerzbank said it had no evidence of its own institutional investors accepting the offer.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

“It doesn’t mean that all businesses using dynamic pricing or pricing algorithms are engaging in inflating prices,” said Eric Enson, a lawyer representing the chamber, during a legislative hearing last year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

The companies are suspected of inflating ice cream prices beyond increases in the cost of raw materials, even as the country faces a hot summer with record high temperatures.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

I can’t bring myself to give a full answer with a balloon of fear steadily inflating in my ribs.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023