puffs up
Expands with air
Puffs up means to swell or expand, often with air: The dough puffs up as it bakes.
It extends to emotional inflation—becoming proud, self-important, or indignant: He puffs up whenever anyone questions his expertise.
You can puff something up by exaggerating its importance: The press puffed up the story into a scandal.
- inflatesFills with gas
- blows upBursts with force
- engorgeFill to distension
- enlargeIncrease in size
- billowSwell outward with air
swell · balloon · bloat · bulge · plume · mushroom · rise · preen · overstate · exaggerate · aggrandize · full of hot air · distend · brag · grow · boast · vaunt · expand
puffs updeflates
Releases air from
collapses · shrinks · contracts · compresses · flattens
puffs uphumbles
Reduces in stature
deflates · humiliates · mortifies · chastens · cuts down to size
puff, puffs, puffed, puffing, puffy, puffier, puffiest, puffiness