inflated
Americanadjective
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distended with air or gas; swollen.
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puffed up, as with pride.
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turgid or bombastic.
his inflated prose.
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unduly increased in level.
inflated costs.
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Economics. unduly expanded in amount, value, or size; characterized by inflation.
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Botany. hollow and enlarged or swelled out.
inflated perianth.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inflated
Explanation
If it's puffed up and overrated, it's probably inflated — a simple adjective that means blown out of proportion or exaggerated. Think of a balloon. You blow and blow, and it gets bigger and bigger. Sometimes if you blow too much it takes on a distorted shape, or even explodes. Now use that same imagery, but swap the balloon for someone's ego or the price of U2 concert tickets. Both personalities and prices can get inflated beyond reasonableness — the personalities with pretentious hot air and the prices with unnecessary cost.
Vocabulary lists containing inflated
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.
Managing players with inflated opinions about themselves is another challenge in itself - and it certainly needs addressing.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Was it excessive for Jews to buy land, at fair or often inflated prices, from absentee landlords in Beirut and Damascus who were glad to sell malarial swamps?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Investigations alleged that South African supplier Ren-Form grossly inflated prices and subsequently paid hundreds of millions of rand to a company linked to him.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
There’s nothing inherently wrong with guesstimating economic opportunities, but the more prominent, inflated, or specific they are, the worse of a sign it can be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
It was the strangest thing, how happiness came out of nowhere and inflated your soul.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
