Other forms: deflated, deflating, deflates
To deflate is to let the air out, or to take somebody's confidence away. Deflate the tyre, feel deflated, a deflating remark.
The figurative use is the commoner, and deflated is exactly the right word for the feeling, since something that was full has gone flat. In economics, deflation is falling prices, which sounds pleasant and is not.
1verbdeflateTo let the air out, or to take somebody's confidence away.
“The children watched sadly as the bouncy castle began to deflate.”
deflate is a flattening.
Coined in 1891 as the opposite of inflate, from Latin de- plus flare, to blow.
From de + (in)flate. Coined in 1891, in reference to balloons. Equivalent to dē- + flō + -ate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA