affair
Americannoun
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affairs
plural
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anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern.
an affair of great importance.
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affairs, matters of commercial or public interest or concern; the transactions of public or private business or finance.
affairs of state; Before taking such a long trip you should put all your affairs in order.
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an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding.
When did this affair happen?
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thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term).
Our new computer is an amazing affair.
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a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty.
That's none of your affair.
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an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
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an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident.
the Congressional bribery affair.
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a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion.
The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.
noun
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a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business
this affair must be cleared up
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an event or happening
a strange affair
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(qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase) something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing
our house is a tumbledown affair
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a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of affair
1250–1300; earlier affaire < French, Old French afaire for a faire to do, equivalent to a (< Latin ad to) + faire ≪ Latin facere; replacing Middle English afere < Old French
Explanation
If your grandfather was so startled by people shouting "Surprise!" at his birthday party that he had a mild heart attack, you'd probably want to just forget the whole affair. An affair is a specific event. You can use affair as a kind of shorthand, to mean "that big mess," or "that complicated story I already told you about." Your affair can also mean your responsibility or job, like if your grandmother said, "I don't care about balloons for the party — that's your affair." Another way affair is frequently used is to mean a love affair, particularly if the relationship is brief and intense. This meaning comes from the French phrase affaire de coeur, "affair of the heart."
Vocabulary lists containing affair
The Poet X
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Among the piles of information might be evidence of an affair, or of beliefs they held that you might find offensive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Their relationship fell apart after Agarwal suspected Lee of having an affair.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, stars of “Vanderpump Rules” who were a couple for nine years, split after it came to light that Sandoval had an affair with their co-star Raquel Leviss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
If decoding the Leipzig affair and its actual or possible ramifications seems to require an advanced degree in international semiotics, the reported facts are straightforward enough.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
The tub was a massive claw-footed affair of enameled copper.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Manuel J. Delarosa, a public affairs specialist for Navy Region Southwest, said that a search and rescue crew based out of Naval Aviation Station Lemoore rescued the pilot and took him to a trauma facility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Earlier he was the East Coast bureau chief of the Journal’s U.S. news team, leading coverage of national affairs in major regions of the country ranging from Boston to Miami and across the Deep South.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
"I think we have become used to the idea that peace is the normal state of affairs, that it's going to last," says McMillan.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
In the countries surveyed, 76% of respondents said they had no confidence in his leadership of world affairs.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
The estate was being administered by Scott Mathis, the Big Hill Trading Company owner, who had long managed the financial affairs of Anna and Lizzie as a guardian.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
