affair

[uh-fair]

noun

1. anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern.

   an affair of great importance.

2. 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.

3. an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding.

   When did this affair happen?

4. thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term).

   Our new computer is an amazing affair.

5. a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty.

   That's none of your affair.

6. an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.

7. an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident.

   the Congressional bribery affair.

8. a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion.

   The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.

affair

/ əˈfɛə /

noun

1. a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business

   this affair must be cleared up

2. an event or happening

   a strange affair

3. (qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase) something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing

   our house is a tumbledown affair

4. a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other

Word History and Origins

Origin of affair¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of affair¹

C13: from Old French, from à faire to do

Example Sentences

The apartments here are sold at subsidised prices, but day-to-day affairs in the estate are managed by privately appointed firms.

Read more on BBC

Philippe, 53, also serves as counsellor for European and international affairs to the director of the French police.

Read more on Barron's

"We are now on a fast track to something," says Daniel Fried, former US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

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While he has never held public office, Driscoll worked in Congress as an intern for the Senate's veteran affairs committee, and in 2020 he made an unsuccessful bid for a House seat in North Carolina.

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During that time, I met a woman who was the public affairs officer for the city of Fort Wayne.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• case 
• employment 
• event 
• incident 
• interest 
• proceeding 
• project 
• question 
• subject 
• task 
• thing 
• topic 
• transaction