inflate

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to make something sound more important, better, or worse than it actually is.

v. to represent something in an exaggerated manner; to puff up or swell beyond justified limits.

“He tried to inflate his work experience on his resume to get the job.”

“Critics argued that the marketing department deliberately chose to inflate the product's capabilities, leading to widespread consumer disappointment.”

C1 · Advanced Technical · Academic

v. to increase the amount of money in use, which usually makes prices go up.

v. to increase the volume of available currency or credit, resulting in a rise in price levels. Often used in passive constructions.

“The government's decision to print more money began to inflate the cost of food.”

“Economists warned that the central bank's aggressive stimulus package might inadvertently inflate asset prices to unsustainable levels.”

C1 · Advanced Computing Technical

v. to return compressed data back to its original, larger size.

v. to decompress a data stream or file that has been previously shrunk using a compression algorithm.

“The software needs to inflate the zip file before it can install the program.”

“The application uses a specific library to inflate the incoming data packets, ensuring that the original file structure is perfectly restored.”