affair
anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern: an affair of great importance.
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.
an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding: When did this affair happen?
thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term): Our new computer is an amazing affair.
a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty: That's none of your affair.
an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident: the Congressional bribery affair.
a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion: The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.
Origin of affair
1Words Nearby affair
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use affair in a sentence
From the outset, Perry’s focus on Ukraine had puzzled his colleagues in government, who say that he took a personal interest in the country’s affairs.
Rick Perry’s Ukrainian Dream | by Simon Shuster, TIME, and Ilya Marritz, WNYC | September 10, 2020 | ProPublicaDespite much drum-beating on the topic, much of the public is still unaware that seasonal flu is a serious affair.
The COVID-19 pandemic is about to collide with flu season. Here’s what to expect. | Sara Chodosh | August 26, 2020 | Popular-ScienceIn her new role, Delaine Prado will report to Google’s SVP of global affairs, Kent Walker, an influential lawyer who has played a key role in guiding the company’s political and legal response to the numerous challenges it is facing.
There is overwhelming public support for making cocktails to go permanent, says Mike Whatley, vice president of state and local affairs for the National Restaurant Association.
Number of states allowing to-go cocktails has surged from 2 to 33 during coronavirus | Lee Clifford | August 24, 2020 | FortuneDays earlier, he had admitted to being questioned in a federal investigation related to the 2016 presidential election, blaming the whole affair on “the deep state.”
The year’s hottest e-commerce stock is up more than 1,500%. Its founder cashed out before the rally | Bernhard Warner | August 18, 2020 | Fortune
But he elected instead to have a very visible affair with a music-hall star.
The Real-Life ‘Downton’ Millionairesses Who Changed Britain | Tim Teeman | December 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is what I (sometimes) find endearing about the whole affair.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots | Emily Shire | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLiterature in the 14th century, Strohm points out, was an intimate, interactive affair.
A Year In The Life of The Canterbury Tales’ Storied Beginnings | Wendy Smith | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor Kirke it was being paid to pretend to play the oboe that heightened her affair with classical music.
‘Mozart in the Jungle’: Inside Amazon’s Brave New World of Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music | Kevin Fallon | December 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDinner was a baroque affair, on the beach, a warm breeze gently blowing.
And now, monsieur, if you will communicate to me the nature of your affair, you shall find me entirely at your service.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniTheir sin began on Holy Thursday, with so little secrecy and so bad an example, that the affair was beginning to leak out.
He was a boy of eighteen, aching over his first love affair; and she was divinely mothering him.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodThis information was balm to Louis, as it seemed to promise a peaceful termination to so threatening an affair.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterAnd it might be a good idea for you to give your men a gentle hint to keep their mouths closed about this affair—all of it.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for affair
/ (əˈfɛə) /
a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business: this affair must be cleared up
an event or happening: a strange affair
(qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase) something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing: our house is a tumbledown affair
a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other
Origin of affair
1- See also affairs
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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