inflate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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.
-
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.
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
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(tr) to cause inflation of (prices, money, etc)
-
(tr) to raise in spirits; elate
-
(intr) to undergo economic inflation
Related Words
See expand.
Other Word Forms
- inflatedly adverb
- inflatedness noun
- inflater noun
- inflator noun
- overinflate verb (used with object)
- reinflate verb
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
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.
It could inflate the ego, create a false understanding of reality and, in some bizarre instances, make him believe he is omnipotent.
Evercore ISI strategist Julian Emanuel observes that the S&P 500 is following the same pattern it did in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the tech bubble inflated, then burst.
From Barron's
The Greenspan Fed subsequently raised interest rates as the dot-com bubble inflated at the end of that decade.
Mr. James allegedly submitted fake and fraudulently inflated customer invoices to factors.
That aims to support households through energy subsidies, even at the risk of inflating Japan's gargantuan national debt, which is expected to exceed 230 percent of GDP in the fiscal year 2025-26.
From Barron's
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.
