inflate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to distend; swell or puff out; dilate.
The king cobra inflates its hood.
- Antonyms:
- deflate
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to cause to expand or distend with air or gas.
to inflate a balloon.
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to puff up with pride, satisfaction, etc.
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to elate.
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Economics. to expand (money, prices, an economy, etc.) unduly in amount, value, or size; affect with inflation.
verb (used without object)
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to become inflated.
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to increase, especially suddenly and substantially.
The $10 subscription has inflated to $25.
verb
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to expand or cause to expand by filling with gas or air
she needed to inflate the tyres
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(tr) to cause to increase excessively; puff up; swell
to inflate one's opinion of oneself
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(tr) to cause inflation of (prices, money, etc)
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(tr) to raise in spirits; elate
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(intr) to undergo economic inflation
Synonym Usage
See expand.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inflatednessnoun
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inflaternoun
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inflatornoun
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reinflateverb
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overinflateverb (used with object)
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inflatedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inflatesimple
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inflatessimple
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have inflatedperfect
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has inflatedperfect
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am inflatingprogressive
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are inflatingprogressive
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is inflatingprogressive
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have been inflatingperfect progressive
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has been inflatingperfect progressive
Past
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inflatedsimple
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had inflatedperfect
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was inflatingprogressive
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were inflatingprogressive
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had been inflatingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing inflate
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:
For these households, today’s $61,000 average annual retirement-age spending could inflate to $110,000 over the next two decades, when they reach retirement age.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Uber contends this arrangement has created an incentive for doctors and attorneys to collude to dramatically inflate medical bills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
"The primary use case for a humanoid robot today is to walk on stage and artificially inflate your share price," he says.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
A more technical concern is how to set a credible baseline for Medicaid spending so states can’t inflate projections and pocket the difference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Tano seems to inflate a little at the upgrade to his title.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The bottleneck that inflates Nvidia’s margins also inflates the cost of building the infrastructure that generates them.
From MarketWatch ● 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
In other words, asking about food decisions piece by piece naturally inflates the total.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2026
Positioning him as a pioneering visionary, it also inflates Man Ray’s significance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
And then he smiles at me again, and I swear my heart inflates into one huge red balloon.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
"Appointments made against a backdrop of social turmoil always come with many pitfalls," said Prytula, adding that Drapaty now faces "inflated expectations".
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
She inflated the value of her businesses and used the money to invest in stocks and shares, as well as clearing credit card debts.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
He said that his role had been inflated into something it was not, and focused largely on the investigation, not on the relationship.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Employment peaked in 2023 at 684,000, when pandemic-era checks and parts shortages inflated profits across the auto industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Colonel Korn’s thick, dark jowls inflated unexpectedly with a suppressed guffaw, and it took him a moment to reply.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
Drought and tight cattle supplies are squeezing American beef production and inflating prices in the grocery aisle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Football's governing body was subpoenaed to answer allegations of "artificially inflating prices" and "misleading fans".
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Grandpop played and played, his cheeks inflating and deflating, his head rocking side to side, the sound sometimes really, really quiet, and other times piercingly loud.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
