Filling something with air or gas to make it expand and swell up, like blowing up a balloon.
From Latin 'inflāre' (in- + flāre), where 'flāre' means 'to blow.' The term has been used since the 1600s for both physical expansion and exaggerating importance.
The same word describes both blowing up a balloon AND exaggerating your resume—because inflation in both cases means artificially making something seem bigger than it really is!
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