AFFAIR Definition & Meaning

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affair

[ uh-fair ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern:
an affair of great importance.
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.
an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding:
When did this affair happen?
thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term):
Our new computer is an amazing affair.
a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty:
That's none of your affair.
an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident:
the Congressional bribery affair.
a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion:
The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.

affair

/ əˈ��ɛə /

noun

a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business
this affair must be cleared up
an event or happening
a strange affair
qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing
our house is a tumbledown affair
a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of affair¹

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of affair¹

C13: from Old French, from à faire to do

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The territory has a government and sets its own trade policy, while the UK takes responsibility for its defence and foreign affairs.

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White House visits by championship teams are a silly affair, quickly forgotten.

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He's not talking about interventions; the U.S. government, of course, has intervened in other countries' affairs, and, in fact, overturned, democratically elected governments during the Cold War.

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A family affair as 20-year-old jockey rides horse owned by his mother Georgia.

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To tech aficionados, the whole affair evokes the “Streisand effect,” in which an effort to suppress something online only makes it more conspicuous.

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