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:
Earlier this year, the office of Mexico’s attorney general claimed officials were unaware of Jando’s true identity and role in the Zambada affair until recently.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
I can’t believe I have to ask this, but … are they having an affair?
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
But it’s Bracco who keeps the movie honest, making the wronged wife more than a stock character and giving the affair consequences the movie can’t romanticize away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
For Maureen Vines, Raleigh was also a family affair.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
If she had friends she took to the west wing it was not exactly my affair.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
James Fame Ndongo, a senior ruling party figure and higher education minister, dismissed claims of a power vacuum last month, insisting the president continued to oversee state affairs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
He also decided to enter a business relationship with Morgan, who offered to manage Spooner’s creative affairs and help him take “Afro-Punk” to the next level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
While Kushner’s approach to world affairs is remarkably similar to Kissinger’s, the older man’s worldview was shaped by his ideology and academic understanding of world power dynamics.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
She was most recently vice president for women and family affairs, but has not held a government role since 2021.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
The women of Raskova’s regiments, with Soviet society reinforcing their heterosexual standards, felt that marriage was acceptable; but affairs were not.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
