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:
For Maureen Vines, Raleigh was also a family affair.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Fueled by a booming resale market, the ritual of buying deceased homeowners’ belongings has morphed from a leisurely weekend outing into an elbows-up affair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
It’s the grunting culmination of a love affair that began when Higdon, a retired cancer surgeon, encountered a line of yaks in Nepal not far from Mt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Bidding for their first World Cup final since 1966, England took the lead in a tense affair in Atlanta through a 55th-minute Anthony Gordon finish.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
When driven with his mates to the new owners’ camp, Buck saw a slipshod and slovenly affair, tent half stretched, dishes unwashed, everything in disorder; also, he saw a woman.
From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London
Both Farage and home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf did not address this point when asked to do so at a press conference to unveil the plans on Monday.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Hochman said Flores should have reported his colleagues’ misconduct to internal affairs or the LAPD’s inspector general.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
There’s a vast chasm between doing nothing and spending money trying to rehouse this relative and manage all his affairs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
“We have a robust ingredient traceability system,” said Laurie Schalow, the chain’s chief corporate affairs and food safety officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Eventually, the interference of the Parrish Street Gang in religious affairs led one White Rock minister to protest attempts to “Mutualize” his church.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
