- inflated
- inflated, flatulent, tumid, turgid mean filled with something insubstantial (as air or vapor).Inflated implies expansion by the introduction of something (as a gas) lacking in substance to the point where the walls are stretched taut or tension is evident{
an inflated tire
}{an inflated balloon
}In its extended use inflated implies a stretching or expanding, often by artificial or questionable means, to a point not justified by reality or truth; thus, currency is said to be inflated when the amount in circulation far exceeds the amount normally necessary to meet the demands of trade and commerce; one's ego is said to be inflated when one is puffed up with self-confidence and pride not warranted by one's ability or achievements; a style may be described as inflated when it is far more pretentious or imposing than its subject matter warrants{a pretentious and inflated tract on feminism— Menninger
}{caricaturing the inflated elegance of Eastern culture as represented in its refined fiction— J. D. Hart
}Flatulent applies basically to persons or their organs when gases generating in the alimentary canal cause distention of stomach or bowels. In its extended use flatulent usually implies emptiness with the appearance of fullness or a lack of pith or substance{flatulent with fumes of self- applause— Young
}{a score or two of poems, each more feeble and more flatulent than the last— Swinburne
}{enthusiasts who read into him all sorts of flatulent bombast— Mencken
}Tumid implies noticeable enlargement by swelling or bloating, especially as a result of an abnormal condition{my thighs grow very tumid— Johnson
}{his face looked damp, pale under the tan, and slightly tumid— Cozzens
}In its extended use tumid implies an abnormal or conspicuous increase in volume without a proportionate increase in substance and often suggests pretentiousness or bombast{to compare, in thy tumid pride, with me?— Shelley
}{while Shakespeare, using great words on the lowlier subject, contrives to make them appropriate, with Burke, writing on the loftier subject, the same or similar words have become tumid— Quiller-Couch
}Turgid is not always distinguishable from tumid; however, it is more often used when normal distention as distinct from morbid bloating is implied{healthy living cells are turgid
}{woody tissue turgid with sap
}Consequently, in extended use, especially as applied to literary expression or style, turgid often adds to tumid the connotation of unrestrained vitality or of undisciplined emotion, especially as manifest in bombast, rant, or rhapsody (see BOMBAST){the effects . . . already . . . show in French architecture—which is growing repulsive—and in French prose—which is growing turgid— Be Hoc
}In general, however, turgid may be used to describe anything that is not measured or restrained and perfectly in keeping with orderly thought{the turgid intricacies the modern foundation gets itself into in its efforts to spend its millions— Dwight Macdonald
}{football ... a turgid struggle of monolithic masses— Thurber
}Analogous words: bombastic, grandiloquent, magniloquent, aureate, flowery, *rhetorical: pretentious, ostentatious, *showy: rhapsodical, ranting, fustian (see corresponding nouns at BOMBAST): *wordy, verbose, prolix, diffuseAntonyms: pithyContrasted words: compendious, *concise, summary, terse, succinct, laconic
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
