
affair | affair: n. 1 matter, topic, issue; business, concern, interest, undertaking, activity: These are affairs of state and require the approval of a minister. 2 concern, business, Slang US beeswax: Who wiped the fingerprints off the weapon is none of your affair. 3 event, business, occurrence, happening, proceeding, incident, operation: Last night''s farewell party was truly a dull affair. 4 Also, affaire. love affair, amour, romance, intrigue, fling, liaison, relationship, affaire d''amour, affaire de coeur: Lady Constance is having an affair with the gamekeeper.
affect� | affect�: v. 1 attack, act upon, lay hold of, strike: Arthritis has affected his hands and he can no longer play the piano. 2 move, stir, impress, touch, strike; perturb, upset, trouble, agitate: The sportsman was not affected by all the taunts and jeers. 3 influence, sway, change, transform, modify, alter: Her sudden fame has affected her view of herself.
affect� | affect�: v. 1 assume, adopt, put on, pretend (to), feign, sham, fake, counterfeit: Charles affects a knowledge of high finance. 2 choose, select; use, wear, adopt: He affected a striped blazer and a boater which he wore at a jaunty angle.
affectation | affectation: n. 1 affectedness, pretentiousness, artificiality, insincerity, posturing: She behaves with so much affectation that I never can be sure of her real feelings. 2 pretence, simulation, false display, show, front, pose, pretension, fa�ade; act, airs: Some people''s charitable concern for others is mere affectation. Using a long cigarette-holder is one of her many affectations.
affected | affected: adj. 1 unnatural, artificial, specious, stilted, stiff, studied, awkward, non-natural, contrived, mannered: Dryden found Shakespeare''s style stiff and affected. 2 pretended, simulated, hollow, assumed, feigned, fake, faked, false, counterfeit, insincere, spurious, sham, bogus, Colloq phoney or US also phony: The heir''s affected grief concealed his secret exultation. 3 pretentious, pompous, high-sounding, mincing, niminy-piminy, Colloq la-di-da orlah-di-dah or la-de-da: Oliver''s affected airs were enough to make his classmates detest him. 4 attacked, seized, afflicted, stricken, gripped, touched; diseased, laid hold of: Her affected lungs never quite recovered. 5 afflicted, moved, touched, stirred, distressed, troubled, upset, hurt; influenced, swayed, impressed, struck, played or worked or acted upon: Many affected theatre-goers enjoyed her performances.
affection | affection: n. goodwill, (high) regard, liking, fondness, attachment, loving attachment, tenderness, warmth, love: The affection she felt towards her stepchildren was returned many times over.
affectionate | affectionate: adj. fond, loving, tender, caring, devoted, doting, warm: She gave her mother an affectionate embrace and boarded the train.
affiliated | affiliated: adj. associated; attached, connected, combined, united, joined: For our members'' convenience, the club is now affiliated with one that serves meals.
affinity | affinity: n. 1 relationship, kinship, closeness, alliance, connection or Brit connexion; sympathy, rapport: He felt an affinity with other redheaded people. 2 friendliness, fondness, liking, leaning, bent, inclination, taste, partiality, attractiveness, attraction: I have an affinity for the sea.
afflict | afflict: v. affect, bother, distress, oppress, trouble, torment: Last winter''s intense cold afflicted everyone, but those in the north especially.
affliction | affliction: n. 1 hardship, misery, misfortune, distress, ordeal, trial, tribulation, adversity, suffering, woe, pain, grief, distress, torment, wretchedness: Moses saw the affliction of his people in Egypt. 2 curse, disease, calamity, catastrophe, disaster, plague, scourge, tribulation, trouble: He often observed that greed was the affliction of the middle class.
afford | afford: v. 1 have the means, be able or rich enough, manage, bear the expense, pay, provide: We cannot afford to send the children to better schools. 2 give, spare, give up, contribute, donate; sacrifice: The loss of a single day''s work was more than I could afford. 3 yield, give, supply, produce, provide, furnish, grant, offer; give forth: May kind heaven afford him everlasting rest. The poems afford no explanation.
afoul | afoul: adv. afoul of. entangled with, in trouble with, in conflict with, at odds with: Barbara fell afoul of the new tax regulations.
afraid | afraid: adj. 1 fearful, frightened, scared, intimidated, apprehensive, lily-livered, white-livered, terrified, panic-stricken, faint-hearted, weak-kneed, timid, timorous, nervous, anxious, jittery, on edge, edgy, jumpy; cowardly, pusillanimous, craven, Colloq yellow: Don''t be afraid, the dog won''t bite you. 2 sorry, unhappy, regretful, apologetic, rueful: I''m afraid I cannot help you find a cheap flat in London.
