affair Hear it!

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

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.

affair Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • administer: During the 1970s he administered the business affairs of the ice-skater John Currie.
  • manage: The company directors may sometimes appoint managers or attorneys of the company, granting them certain powers to manage the affairs of the company.
  • relax: This Week I'm Loving Diesel's Behave Bag A weekend away should be a relaxed affair, and your luggage should reflect this.
  • settle: The game itself was a scrappy affair settled by a scrappy first half goal from Fitz.
  • begin: Radha's unhappiness results in an instant connection with Christopher and they begin a passionate affair that will change everyone's life forever.

Adjective modifier

  • foreign: The daily lives of our citizens in Britain are not about foreign affairs Really?
  • current: A good way to keep up to date with current affairs in the science world.
  • internal: With sovereignty came the norm against interference in the internal affairs of other states.
  • financial: Saturday 27th May 2006 Over the next few days, putting your financial affairs on a new footing could be pressing.
  • ecclesiastical: And nothing can be more pleasant than the present arrangement of ecclesiastical affairs in Barchester.
  • passionate: Radha's unhappiness results in an instant connection with Christopher and they begin a passionate affair that will change everyone's life forever.

Modifies a noun

  • spokesman: However Mark Oaten, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, called on Clarke to ' break ranks ' from the policies of his predecessor.
  • ku: Insurance of car insurance group list the health affairs ku decision you should.
  • jensen: Programs and on laws and other health affairs jensen g coverage for workers.
  • minister: The statements come just a few days before EU justice and home affairs ministers meet in Finland next week.
  • editor: Rural affairs editor MICHAEL POLLITT finds about plans for the Crisp Malting Group.

Noun used with modifier

  • love: The second featured an office in Acton where I had worked, a secret love affair.
  • tax: Our Italian tax services... to service to handle their Italian tax affairs.
  • consumer: Constitutional position There should be a Cabinet minister with a consumer affairs portfolio.
  • operator-to-operator: This provides needed competition to interexchange carrier offerings which were expensive and cumbersome operator-to-operator affairs in many cases.
affair Quotes

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

—Parker, Dorothy ne¤  e Rothschild

   I had had an affair with the moon, in which there was neither sin nor shame.

—Sterne, Laurence

   Who wants to be a millionaire? And go to ev'ry swell affair?

—Porter, Cole

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

—Mann,Thomas

For my part,Itravel not to go anywhere, but to go.Itravel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.

—Stevenson, Robert Louis

He not only knew a lot about foreign affairs, he was a foreign affair.

—Reston,James B(arrett)

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

Browse dictionary entries near affair

  1. affable
  2. aff’d
  3. afebrile
  4. afeard
  5. AFDC
  6. AFC
  7. AFB
  8. afar
  9. AFAM
  10. AFAIK
  1. affaire
  2. affaire d'amour
  3. affaire d'honneur
  4. affaire de coeur
  5. affect
  6. affectation
  7. affected
  8. affecting
  9. affection
  10. affectionate