affection

¹ American  

[uh-fek-shuhn] / əˈfɛk ʃən /

noun

1. fond attachment, devotion, or love.

   the affection of a parent for an only child.

   Synonyms:

   friendship, fondness, amity, friendliness, liking

   Antonyms:

   dislike

2. Often affections

   1. emotion; feeling; sentiment.

      over and above our reason and affections.

   2. the emotional realm of love.

      a place in his affections.

3. Pathology. a disease, or the condition of being diseased; abnormal state of body or mind.

   a gouty affection.

4. the act of affecting; act of influencing or acting upon.

5. the state of being affected.

6. Philosophy. a contingent, alterable, and accidental state or quality of being.

7. the affective aspect of a mental process.

8. bent or disposition of mind.

9. Obsolete. bias; prejudice.

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affection ² American  

[uh-fek-shuhn] / əˈfɛk ʃən /

noun

Obsolete.

1. affectation.

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affection British  

/ əˈfɛkʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of fondness or tenderness for a person or thing; attachment

2. (often plural) emotion, feeling, or sentiment

   to play on a person's affections

3. pathol any disease or pathological condition

4. psychol any form of mental functioning that involves emotion See also affect 1

5. the act of affecting or the state of being affected

6. archaic inclination or disposition

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Usage

What are other ways to say affection?

Affection refers to fond attachment, as of one person to another. How is affection different from love and devotion? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

• affectional adjective
• affectionless adjective

Etymology

Origin of affection¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin affectiōn- (stem of affectiō ) “disposition or state of mind or body”; affect ¹, -ion

Origin of affection²

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

Example Sentences

Gabbo didn't hear their interruptions, talked over them, could not differentiate between child and adult voices and responded awkwardly to declarations of affection.

From BBC

Nevertheless the affection Antigone shows for him has a tenderness she rarely allows others to see.

From The Wall Street Journal

Expressing affection for a specific film in a public forum is grounds to be drawn and quartered in the social media town square.

From Salon

By contrast, my father smothered me with affection.

From The Wall Street Journal

The fact that any straw poll of Spurs fans would end with Pochettino standing in the technical area at the start of next season shows the affection still felt for the Argentine.

From BBC

Related Words

• care
• closeness
• desire
• devotion
• emotion
• feeling
• friendship
• good will
• kindness
• love
• passion
• sentiment
• tenderness
• warmth