BALLOON Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

balloon

verb

Definition of balloon

as in to increase

to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number the number of students who stay home sick balloons every winter

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to protrude

to extend outward beyond a usual point the paper bag ballooned and blew away as the wind lifted it skyward

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of balloon The White House initially estimated the project would cost $200 million, later raising that to $400 million, but the Post found the actual price has ballooned even higher. — Alison Durkee, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 The ballroom construction was originally expected to cost $200 million, then the price ballooned to $400 million, and the total construction cost was later estimated at $600 million. — Paloma Chavez, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026 In 2024, Bay FC set the expansion fee expectation at $53 million, which has since ballooned to more than $200 million. — Emily Olsen, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026 California is attempting to build the nation's first bullet train, a project that's ballooned in cost and has blown through deadline after deadline for more than a decade. — Julie Watts, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for balloon

Recent Examples of Synonyms for balloon

Verb

There are also increasing concerns that the Russia-Ukraine war could escalate, amid reports that CIA chief John Ratcliffe have made a secretive Moscow trip to warn Russia against attacking NATO.

— Justina Lee, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Friday starts dry in the Twin Cities with clouds and temperatures increasing through the afternoon.

— Joseph Dames, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of increase

Verb

Anything that protrudes above the shallow, insulating snow cover is more prone to being damaged by the cold and wind or eaten by wildlife, said plant ecologist Anne Bjorkman of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026
Other animals on-site include a stable full of horses and Cowboy the tortoise, who is about the size of a lawnmower and whose head protrudes from what looks like a Venus flytrap made of bone.

— Emma Madden, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of protrude

Verb

Analysts note that following SpaceX's record-breaking IPO last month, investor interest in commercial spaceflight and the broader space sector has risen steadily.

— , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Alphabet’s stock is down more than 15% from its May peak, wiping out roughly $700 billion in value, as concerns rise over its mounting AI bills and failure to produce a decisive technological breakthrough.

— Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of rise

Verb

Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
Most of what’s actionable comes from the signal that might be poking through.

— Ben Gretch, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of poke

Verb

Satellite imagery showed the scale of the flooding, with the basin of the Trishuli River dramatically swelled by mud.

— Matteo Moschella, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026
During the seven years that it was occupied by British forces, Manhattan had been ravaged by fires, picked over by looters, covered in fortifications, and swollen with refugees.

— Eric Lach, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of swell

Verb

Infants may act sluggish or not active, vomit, be unusually fussy, face poor feeding, show a bulging soft spot on the head, or show poor reflexes.

— Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
Padmini came in about ten minutes later, carrying a net bag bulging with okra and shiny gourds.

— Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of bulge

Verb

However, with multiple suppliers accelerating expansion, the eventual release of new capacity has raised fears of an inflection point in chip prices, which could threaten current high margins.

— , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
But no one has generated that feeling more than Mahomes, starting with some jaw-dropping throws in his first NFL start in the 2017 regular-season finale and accelerating with his true debut in 2018 with 10 touchdown passes in the first two games.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of accelerate

Verb

Japan’s Inpex, for example, formed a joint venture to expand its LNG investment in Australia’s Northern Territory.

— Katie Silver, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
While most of its stores are in mainland China, the company had 4,378 stores overseas as of end-June and has been expanding into new markets, including central Asia and the Americas.

— Jenny Lee, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of expand

Browse Nearby Words

ball of wax

balloon

ballooned

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Balloon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balloon. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of balloon

verb

Example Sentences

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