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affair definition

af·fair (ə fer′)

noun

  1. a thing to be done; business
  2. matters of business or concern
  3. any matter, occurrence, or thing
  4. a social function or gathering
  5. an event that becomes a matter of public controversy

  6. Etymology: < love affair

    an amorous relationship between two people not married to each other; an amour

Etymology: ME afere < OFr afaire < a faire, to do < L ad-, to + facere, do

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

affair Synonyms

affair

n.

  1. Business; often plural

    concern, business, responsibility, matter, duty, topic, subject, case, circumstance, thing, question, office, function, transaction, proceeding, operation, activity, private concern, personal business, calling, employment, occupation, profession, pursuit, obligation, job, province, realm, interest, mission, assignment, task, undertaking.

  2. An illicit love affair

    liaison, rendezvous, intrigue, amour, affaire, intimacy, romance, relationship, love affair, affair of the heart, affaire d'amour, affaire de coeur (both French), entanglement, dalliance, fling*.

  3. Party

    entertainment, gathering, function, occasion; see party 1.

  4. A thing or event

    occurrence, matter, case, incident; see event 1, thing 8.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

affair Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • administer: During the 1970s he administered the business affairs of the ice-skater John Currie.

Adjective modifier

  • foreign: The daily lives of our citizens in Britain are not about foreign affairs Really?

Modifies a noun

  • spokesman: However Mark Oaten, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, called on Clarke to ' break ranks ' from the policies of his predecessor.

Noun used with modifier

  • love: The second featured an office in Acton where I had worked, a secret love affair.
affair usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

affair quotes

A great partyought nottobe brought down because of a squalid affair between a woman of easy virtue and a proved liar.

-Hailsham, Quintin (McGarel) Hogg, 2nd Viscount

Liebe zu sich selbst ist immer derAnfang eines romanhaften Lebens. Self-love is always the beginning of a novelistic affair.

-Mann,Thomas

The affair between Margot Asquith and Margot Asquith will live as one of the prettiest love stories inall literature.

-Parker, Dorothy ne¤  e Rothschild

affair quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"affair." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/affair>

APA Style

affair. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/affair

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