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Synonyms

affected

1 American  
[uh-fek-tid] / əˈfɛk tɪd /

adjective

  1. acted upon; influenced.

  2. influenced in a harmful way; impaired, harmed, or attacked, as by climate or disease.

  3. (of the mind or feelings) impressed; moved; touched.

    She was deeply affected by their generosity.
affected 2 American  
[uh-fek-tid] / əˈfɛk tɪd /

adjective

  1. assumed artificially; unnatural; feigned.

    affected sophistication; an affected British accent.

  2. assuming or pretending to possess that which is not natural.

    Her affected wealth and social pedigree are so obviously false that it's embarrassing.

  3. inclined or disposed.

    well affected toward the speaker's cause.

  4. held in affection; fancied.

    a novel much affected by our grandparents.
affected 1 British  
/ əˈfɛktɪd /

adjective

  1. behaving, speaking, etc, in an artificial or assumed way, esp in order to impress others

  2. feigned

    affected indifference

  3. archaic inclined; disposed

"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
affected 2 British  
/ əˈfɛktɪd /

adjective

  1. deeply moved, esp by sorrow or grief

    he was greatly affected by her departure

  2. changed, esp detrimentally

"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

Other Word Forms

  • affectedly adverb
  • affectedness noun

Etymology

Origin of affected1

First recorded in 1570–80; affect 1 + -ed 2

Origin of affected2

First recorded in 1525–35; affect 2 + -ed 2

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.

On LinkedIn, Oracle employees, including software engineers, account executives and program managers, shared publicly that they were affected by a mass layoff at the company and were looking for new jobs.

From Los Angeles Times

Are the Lomans meant to be Irish immigrants or is that a Boston dialect that is being affected when the cartoonish New Yorkese takes a breather?

From Los Angeles Times

One of the UK's largest mortgage lenders, Nationwide, warned on Tuesday that house prices would be affected by the conflict.

From BBC

In fact, 21% said their finances were affected “a great deal.”

From MarketWatch

A second analysis focused on 90 duplicate samples to determine whether storage conditions affected accuracy.

From Science Daily

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.