afford

American  

[uh-fawrd] / əˈfɔrd /

verb (used with object)

• affords,
  present (3rd person singular)
• afforded,
  past participle,  past
• affording
  present participle

1. to be able to do, manage, or bear without serious consequence or adverse effect.

   The country can't afford another drought.

2. to be able to meet the expense of; have or be able to spare the price of.

   Can we afford a trip to Europe this year? The city can easily afford to repair the street.

3. to be able to give or spare.

   He can't afford the loss of a day.

4. to furnish; supply.

   The transaction afforded him a good profit.

5. to be capable of yielding or providing.

   The records afford no explanation.

6. to give or confer upon.

   to afford great pleasure to someone.

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afford British  

/ əˈfɔːd /

verb

1. to be able to do or spare something, esp without incurring financial difficulties or without risk of undesirable consequences

   we can afford to buy a small house

   I can afford to give you one of my chess sets

   we can't afford to miss this play

2. to give, yield, or supply

   the meeting afforded much useful information

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• affordability
  noun
• affordable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• affording
  present
• afforded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• afford
  simple
• affords
  simple
• have afforded
  perfect
• has afforded
  perfect
• am affording
  progressive
• are affording
  progressive
• is affording
  progressive
• have been affording
  perfect progressive
• has been affording
  perfect progressive

Past

• afforded
  simple
• had afforded
  perfect
• was affording
  progressive
• were affording
  progressive
• had been affording
  perfect progressive

Future

• will afford
  simple
• will have afforded
  perfect
• will be affording
  progressive
• will have been affording
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of afford

First recorded before 1050; Middle English aforthen, iforthen, Old English geforthian “to further, accomplish,” equivalent to ge- y- + forth forth + -ian infinitive suffix

Explanation

To afford means you have enough money or time for something. If you only have ten dollars on you, you can't afford to buy a twenty-dollar hat. Afford is a verb that has to do with means. You either have a surplus and therefore can afford something, or else you have a deficit and can’t. It can be in the monetary sense: "$100 for cashmere socks? I can’t afford that!” It can also refer to time: “Since my train wasn't scheduled to leave for another hour, I could afford to wait for my sister ten more minutes.” Or even access: “The castle walls afforded a wonderful view of the moat.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

afford affords afforded affording

Dickson described one case where a woman who had an abnormality in her pregnancy had her care delayed by six weeks, and another where a woman couldn't afford to travel.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Right now, it is U.S. brands like Ralph Lauren and Coach who are reading the market correctly and have a grasp of what consumers can actually afford.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

But he ultimately answers to the country’s autocratic supreme leader, who can afford to brush off at least some amount of public unhappiness.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

A major problem officials identified at that time was that poor parents could not afford vaccinations for their children.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Maybe she can’t afford a luxury hotel anymore.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

“The data affords patience for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Major cities throughout the States have seen crushing drops in Canadian tourism and business it affords to costly enterprises like ski resorts.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026

Even so, it is the act of assembling disparate icons and references into resonant wholes that affords Saar’s sculptures and tableaux their personal and political import.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

"We were able to identify an evolutionarily old region in the brainstem which affords this ability."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

The legend of Peugeot affords us a good example.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

She deviates from the one-note mean girl role, supplying Gen with dimensionality and kindness that characters like these were rarely afforded.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

How irresistible it must be to get a second chance that very few are afforded.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Thanks to these men, school kids today carry around more computing power in their backpacks than the Pentagon could have afforded in the 1950s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

If we lose that food security afforded by our pollinators we could have a global food crisis on our hands.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Nonetheless, Regina thought he should be afforded equal respect and attention.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

A reporter at the Times Herald covered my crime, stripped of context, affording neither of us humanity.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

His mother was of European descent and his father was a Cantonese opera star who was on tour in the city, affording his son birthright citizenship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

If you have $2 million in investments, affording a $1 million home would be a piece of cake.

From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026

However, one could reasonably expect an AI-related positive productivity shock to further lift the nominal equilibrium rate, affording the Fed time to wait out the latest round of supply shocks and inflationary pressure.

From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026

There was even a porch outside, affording a beautiful view of the ancient Red Sea city.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• grant
• offer
• provide