affected
1 Americanadjective
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acted upon; influenced.
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influenced in a harmful way; impaired, harmed, or attacked, as by climate or disease.
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(of the mind or feelings) impressed; moved; touched.
She was deeply affected by their generosity.
adjective
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assumed artificially; unnatural; feigned.
affected sophistication; an affected British accent.
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assuming or pretending to possess that which is not natural.
Her affected wealth and social pedigree are so obviously false that it's embarrassing.
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inclined or disposed.
well affected toward the speaker's cause.
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held in affection; fancied.
a novel much affected by our grandparents.
adjective
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behaving, speaking, etc, in an artificial or assumed way, esp in order to impress others
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feigned
affected indifference
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archaic inclined; disposed
adjective
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deeply moved, esp by sorrow or grief
he was greatly affected by her departure
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changed, esp detrimentally
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of affected1
First recorded in 1570–80; affect 1 + -ed 2
Origin of affected2
Explanation
Something that's affected is influenced or acted upon. If a bottle of ointment says "apply to the affected area," you should put the medication only on the parts of your skin that touched the poison ivy. One of the most common vocabulary mix-ups is effect and affect: effect is usually a noun, and affect is usually a verb that means "to influence" of "act upon." Affected is the adjective form of the verb. After a flood, affected homeowners might try to get insurance. A sad movie might leave you deeply affected. The word can also refer to behavior that's done only to impress someone: if you're acting affected, you might use big, fake melodramatic gestures.
Vocabulary lists containing affected
The Catcher in the Rye
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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The Words of Nick Carraway
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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.
Affected holdings will be adjusted upwards to include either the interest accrued since the error occurred, or the Bank of England base interest rate plus one percentage point, whichever is higher.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Affected staff will receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks per year of service.
From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026
Affected raw oysters were sold in Washington, while the Manila clams were distributed to restaurants and retailers in California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Oregon and Washington, according to the FDA.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
Affected clients include the San Joaquin County Employees’ Retirement Association in California, which had $34 million in one of the HPS funds as of the end of June.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026
Affected thus, digestive power wanes or increases, goes down or up, as mercury in a barometer from weather conditions.
From The No Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure by Dewey, Edward Hooker
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.
