ɪnˈfleɪʃən ˌɒstənˈteɪʃən the act of filling something with air lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity (cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang a general and progressive increase in prices in inflation everything gets more valuable except money