Hyperinflated

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Displaying an extraordinary surge in prices that severely undermines currency value
2. Experiencing an extreme and rapid increase in monetary supply that leads to significant loss of currency purchasing power and economic stability
3. Characterized by an excessive and unsustainable rise in the overall price levels, resulting in diminishing real value of money and economic distress

Etymology: "Hyperinflated" is simply "hyper-" attached to "inflated," and the combination is a modern, technical-sounding formation. The prefix "hyper-" comes from Greek "hyper," meaning "over" or "beyond," and it has long been used in English to signal excess, as in "hyperactive" or "hypertension." Attaching it to "inflated" stacks an extreme degree onto a term that already described prices or money swelling beyond their normal level. The base word "inflated" traces back to Latin "inflatus," the past participle of "inflare," meaning "to blow into" or "to swell with air," built from "in-" and "flare" (to blow). Its economic sense of money being artificially expanded developed from that physical image of a bladder or balloon being filled until it bulges, so the metaphor of an overfilled currency is literally a picture of air being blown into it.

Synonyms: overinflated, exaggerated