Definition of deflation in English:

deflation

noun

1The action or process of deflating or being deflated.
‘the deflation of the illusion that the 1960s were a perpetual party’
- ‘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.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘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’
- ‘They moved to reduce debt and their actions contributed to recession and more price deflation.’
- ‘‘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.’
- ‘The last section provides three studies that explore the behavior of asset prices during deflations.’
- ‘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.’
anticlimax, let-down, bathos, disappointment, disillusionment, deflation, 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 via German from Latin deflat- blown away, from the verb deflare.