1. (

• inflation ,
• rising_prices

) a general and progressive increase in prices; "in inflation everything gets more valuable except money" ;

2. (

• inflation

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

3. (

• ostentation ,
• ostentatiousness ,
• pomposity ,
• pompousness ,
• pretentiousness ,
• puffiness ,
• splashiness ,
• inflation

) lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity ;

4. (

• inflation

) the act of filling something with air ;