affecting
[uh-fek-ting]
- moving or exciting the feelings or emotions.
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Origin of affecting
Synonyms
See more synonyms for affecting on Thesaurus.comtouching, pathetic, piteous, stirring.
affect1
[verb uh-fekt; noun af-ekt]
- to act on; produce an effect or change in: Cold weather affected the crops.
- to impress the mind or move the feelings of: The music affected him deeply.
- (of pain, disease, etc.) to attack or lay hold of.
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- Psychology. feeling or emotion.
- Psychiatry. an expressed or observed emotional response: Restricted, flat, or blunted affect may be a symptom of mental illness, especially schizophrenia.
- Obsolete. affection; passion; sensation; inclination; inward disposition or feeling.
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Origin of affect1
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin affectus acted upon, subjected to; mental or emotional state (past participle and action noun of afficere), equivalent to af- af- + fec- (combining form of facere to make, do) + -tus action noun suffix or -tus past participle suffix
Synonyms
See more synonyms for affect on Thesaurus.com1. influence, sway; modify, alter. 2. touch, stir.
Usage note
Affect1 and effect, each both noun and verb, share the sense of “influence,” and because of their similarity in pronunciation are sometimes confused in writing. As a verb affect1 means “to act on” or “to move” ( His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept ); affect2 means “to pretend” or “to assume” ( new students affecting a nonchalance they didn't feel ). The verb effect means “to bring about, accomplish”: Her administration effected radical changes. The noun effect means “result, consequence”: the serious effects of the oil spill. The noun affect1 pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, is a technical term in psychology and psychiatry. Affect2 is not used as a noun.
affect2
[uh-fekt]
- to give the appearance of; pretend or feign: to affect knowledge of the situation.
- to assume artificially, pretentiously, or for effect: to affect a Southern accent.
- to use, wear, or adopt by preference; choose; prefer: the peculiar costume he affected.
- to assume the character or attitude of: to affect the freethinker.
- (of things) to tend toward habitually or naturally: a substance that affects colloidal form.
- (of animals and plants) to occupy or inhabit; live in or on: Lions affect Africa. Moss affects the northern slopes.
- Archaic.
- to have affection for; fancy.
- to aim at; aspire to.
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- Obsolete. to incline, tend, or favor (usually followed by to): He affects to the old ways.
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Origin of affect2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for affect on Thesaurus.com1. See pretend.
Usage note
See affect1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for affecting
Contemporary Examples
Geisbert was also quick to mention how the methodology of the study could be affecting the current results.
President Ronald Reagan took similar action, affecting about 100,000 families.
Neither, too, was as chilling, as affecting, or, at times, as much of a slog.
When asked about how his announcement from last November was affecting the race, Michaud seemed momentarily at a loss.
Asthma is one of the most common diseases among children, affecting roughly one in every eleven kids.
More Germs, Less Asthma? Study Shows Babies Exposed to Bacteria and Dander at Less RiskBrandy Zadrozny
June 6, 2014
Historical Examples
Will you doubt, my dear, that my next trial will be the most affecting that I have yet had?
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
Absorbed in the struggle with his conscience he had no least suspicion of how his words were affecting her.
The Fortune HunterLouis Joseph Vance
The conclusion of this affecting narrative brought them to the house.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Thy heart is ingenuous and sincere; thy misfortune is poignant and affecting.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
Such was the language, and such the affecting simplicity of the innocent and uncultivated Imogen.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
affecting
- evoking feelings of pity, sympathy, or pathos; moving
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affect1
- to act upon or influence, esp in an adverse waydamp affected the sparking plugs
- to move or disturb emotionally or mentallyher death affected him greatly
- (of pain, disease, etc) to attack
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- psychol the emotion associated with an idea or set of ideasSee also affection
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin affectus, past participle of afficere to act upon, from ad- to + facere to do
affect2
- to put on an appearance or show of; make a pretence ofto affect ignorance
- to imitate or assume, esp pretentiouslyto affect an accent
- to have or use by preferenceshe always affects funereal clothing
- to adopt the character, manner, etc, ofhe was always affecting the politician
- (of plants or animals) to live or grow inpenguins affect an arctic climate
- to incline naturally or habitually towardsfalling drops of liquid affect roundness
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin affectāre to strive after, pretend to have; related to afficere to affect 1
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
Word Origin and History for affecting
affect
v.1
"to make an impression on," 1630s; earlier "to attack" (c.1600), "act upon, infect" (early 15c.), from affect (n.). Related: Affected; affecting.
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affect
n.
late 14c., "mental state," from Latin noun use of affectus "furnished, supplied, endowed," figuratively "disposed, constituted, inclined," past participle of afficere "to do; treat, use, manage, handle; act on; have influence on, do something to," a verb of broad meaning, from ad- "to" (see ad-) + facere (past participle factus) "do" (see factitious). Perhaps obsolete except in psychology. Related: Affects.
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affect
v.2
"to make a pretense of," 1660s, earlier "to assume the character of (someone)" (1590s); originally in English "to aim at, aspire to, desire" (early 15c.), from Middle French affecter (15c.), from Latin affectare "to strive after, aim at," frequentative of afficere (past participle affectus) "to do something to, act on" (see affect (n.)). Related: Affected; affecting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
affect
(ə-fĕkt′)- To have an influence on or affect a change in.
- To attack or infect, as a disease.
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- Feeling or emotion, especially as manifested by facial expression or body language.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.