inflate synonyms

inflate

v.

  1. To fill with air or gas

    blow up, pump up, puff up, puff out, expand, bloat, distend, swell, swell up, dilate, spread out, widen, balloon, cram, surcharge; see also fill 1, stretch 2, swell.

  2. To increase or raise abnormally

    exaggerate, magnify, stretch, overstate, aggrandize, exalt, blow up, build up, boost, raise, maximize, overestimate, escalate, mount, skyrocket, expand, balloon, swell, augment, enlarge; see also exaggerate, increase 1.

    Antonyms underestimate*, deflate*, minimize. See syn. study at expand.expand.

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.