inflation

/ɪnˈfleɪʃən/

/ɪnˈfleɪʃən/

Other forms: inflations

Think of inflation as expansion, usually from being filled with air, like a balloon. This also refers to rising prices.

Think of a balloon puffing up, getting fuller and fuller — that's inflation. The word has a bunch of related meanings. We can say people a little too full of themselves are suffering from inflation: they are full of hot air. When the cost of living is ballooning, that's economic inflation. When the universe was born in the big bang, there was a huge inflation, as matter spread out, creating galaxies, stars, and planets.

Definitions of inflation

1. noun

   the act of filling something with air
   antonyms:

   deflation

   the act of letting the air out of something

   type of:

   enlargement, expansion

   the act of increasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope
2. noun

   a general and progressive increase in prices
   “in inflation everything gets more valuable except money”

   synonyms: rising prices

   antonyms:

   deflation

   a contraction of economic activity resulting in a decline of prices

   disinflation

   a reduction of prices intended to improve the balance of payments

   types:

   cost-pull inflation

   inflation caused by an increase in the costs of production

   demand-pull inflation

   inflation caused by an increase in demand or in the supply of money

   reflation

   inflation of currency after a period of deflation; restore the system to a previous state

   stagflation

   a period of slow economic growth and high unemployment (stagnation) while prices rise (inflation)

   type of:

   economic process

   any process affecting the production and development and management of material wealth
3. noun

   (cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang
   type of:

   blowup, detonation, explosion

   a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
4. noun

   lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
   synonyms: ostentation, ostentatiousness, pomposity, pompousness, pretentiousness, puffiness, splashiness

   type of:

   inelegance

   the quality of lacking refinement and good taste