Definition of deflation in English:

deflation

noun

mass noun

1The action or process of deflating or being deflated.
‘the deflation of the illusion that the 1960s were a perpetual party’
- ‘The elation at Edgbaston and Old Trafford may well give way to substantial deflation at not being able to win this latest battle and go 2-1 up.’
- ‘Words of encouragement and advice, and indeed a supportive phone call during the week, have always compensated any feeling of deflation at the scales refusing to go downwards.’
- ‘With an almost instantaneous deflation of her aplomb, she shot off the drainer, out of the kitchen door and off onto the patio, complaining loudly all the way.’
- ‘Martin showed no signs of deflation after exiting the 6-2 mauling against Chester 48 hours earlier with nothing to show from a man of the match performance.’
2Economics
Reduction of the general level of prices in an economy.
‘a time of high unemployment and deflation’
count noun ‘a long deflation lasted until about 1896’
- ‘Not every strong decline in asset prices causes deflation, but all major deflations in the world were related to a sudden, continuing and substantial fall in values of assets.’
- ‘They moved to reduce debt and their actions contributed to recession and more price deflation.’
- ‘The last section provides three studies that explore the behavior of asset prices during deflations.’
- ‘‘Growth (in Japan) has recently been constrained by persistent deflations and high levels of nonperforming loans that restrain bank lending,’ she said.’
- ‘That's very different than what most think about when they hear the word deflation - the demand-deficient price declines of the 1930s.’
anticlimax, let-down, bathos, disappointment, disillusionment, decline, setback, reversal
View synonyms
3Geology
The removal of particles of rock, sand, etc. by the wind.
- ‘Wind deflation probably destroyed the original soil that formed on the upper Oliver Platform.’
- ‘If the lake bed became completely dry, material could have been lost through wind erosion or deflation.’

Origin

Late 19th century (in the sense ‘release of air from something inflated’): from deflate; deflation (sense 3) via German from Latin deflat- ‘blown away’, from the verb deflare.