as in dilating
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in soaring
Related Words
1
as in increasing
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the number of students who stay home sick balloons every winter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in protruding
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 ballooning
Catherine Thorbecke, Twin Cities, 31 Jan. 2026
Maybe, but my mind kept hot-air-ballooning away to my fellow-cultists, who were facing their own spiritual co-op boards.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 19 Dec. 2025
Oracle has been a darling of the artificial intelligence boom, ballooning Larry Ellison's fortune to more than $230 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires.
—Steve Kopack, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballooning
Noun
There’s a ballooning opportunity globally for developers to tap into this market and ameliorate that disconnect.
—Catherine Thorbecke, Twin Cities, 31 Jan. 2026
Maybe, but my mind kept hot-air-ballooning away to my fellow-cultists, who were facing their own spiritual co-op boards.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
As more retail investors participate in capital markets, the opportunities for asset managers to handle those funds are ballooning.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 19 Dec. 2025
Oracle has been a darling of the artificial intelligence boom, ballooning Larry Ellison's fortune to more than $230 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires.
—Steve Kopack, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ballooning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ballooning
Noun
-
Plenty of places around Arizona are popular among spectators eager to see the Falcon 9 soaring overheard.—
Eric Lagatta,
AZCentral.com,
30 Nov. 2025
-
Taylor Swift's date night necklace sent this small business soaring.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Throughout these years, Ma began to feel an increasing sense of remorse at his complicity in this system, which sparked deeper soul-searching around his identity as a Muslim, and what that meant within Chinese society.—
Rebecca Wright,
CNN Money,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Beef prices have been increasing since the beginning of the decade.—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
That combination of features — translucent body, segmented frame, protruding teeth, up to 11 claws and enlarged thoracic spines — made the organism distinct enough to warrant an entirely new genus.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Around the side, the former casino facade is now the front of Joe Leaphorn’s workplace, the Kayenta tribal police station, complete with protruding wood beams.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Symptoms can include abdominal pain or discomfort, blurred or double vision, dilated pupils, dizziness, drooping eyelid, dry or sore throat, facial muscle paralysis, nausea or vomiting, swollen belly, and trouble swallowing and speaking.—
Michele Laufik,
Martha Stewart,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Greenwood was previously diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, but said that might not be a factor in what caused her heart attack last year, per the BBC.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Perfect for children’s bedrooms and play spaces, these favorably reviewed linen-blend curtains feature grommets for effortless gliding and breezy stripes in 27 colors that are equally kid- and grownup-friendly.—
Shoko Wanger,
Architectural Digest,
6 Oct. 2025
-
The team showed that this gliding persists down to –15 degree Celsius, setting a new benchmark for cellular motility in complex, nucleus-bearing organisms.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Children's Hospital has begun screening children's literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits.—
MAKIYA SEMINERA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Videos geolocated and verified by CNN show a large fire at a residential high-rise building in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Saturday and smoke rising from the vicinity of the Crowne Plaza hotel in the city on Sunday.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
It’s also built specifically for down jackets to keep the fill from poking through.—
Maggie Slepian,
Outside,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Coogan was poking fun at tech companies’ impulse to name themselves after myths and parables, even when those myths and cultural artifacts have negative associations.—
Diego Lasarte,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Whereas Vaslav’s unorthodox looks infatuated many people, hers (protuberant teeth and lips, stocky body, flat chest, powerful thighs) alienated many.—
Alastair Macaulay,
The New York Review of Books,
29 Dec. 2022
-
And the rear of the case is deeper to accommodate a protuberant rear camera—hinting that the next iPad will see a big camera upgrade.—
David Phelan,
Forbes,
9 Oct. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Ballooning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ballooning. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
