inflation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a general increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money.
a persistent increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.
Simple“High inflation means that your weekly groceries cost much more than they did last year.”
In context“Central banks often raise interest rates to combat rising inflation and prevent the economy from overheating.”
UsageUsually uncountable when referring to the general economic trend.
Synonymsprice hikedevaluationAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
the act of filling something with air or gas so it gets bigger.
the act of expanding or distending an object by injecting it with a gas or liquid.
Simple“The inflation of the life raft took only a few seconds after he pulled the cord.”
In context“Proper inflation of the aircraft's tires is critical for ensuring a safe landing on wet runways.”
UsageCan be countable or uncountable depending on whether it refers to the process or a specific instance.
- 03 C1 Advanced
when things like school grades increase over time so they seem less special.
the tendency for academic marks or evaluations to rise over time, resulting in a perceived loss of value in high grades.
Simple“Because of grade inflation, almost everyone in the class received an A.”
In context“Employers expressed concern that grade inflation at top universities makes it difficult to distinguish truly exceptional candidates from the rest of the cohort.”
Synonymsgrade creep - 04 C2 Proficiency
a very fast expansion of the universe that happened just after it began.
a theory of exponential expansion of space in the early universe, occurring shortly after the Big Bang.
Simple“Scientists study cosmic inflation to understand how the universe grew so large so quickly.”
In context“The theory of inflation explains why the cosmic microwave background radiation appears so uniform across the observable sky.”
Synonymscosmic inflation
“Spain's central bank had already raised its inflation forecast in June, and for the full year it expects inflation to reach 3.6 percent, up from a previous forecast of 3.0 percent.”
“Annual inflation is now 6.5%, compared with 24.6% in July 2021.”
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French inflation (“swelling”), from Latin īnflātiō (“expansion", "blowing up”), from īnflātus, the perfect passive participle of īnflō (“blow into, expand”), from in (“into”) + flō (“blow”). By surface analysis, inflate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.