affair
Use Affair in a sentence
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noun
1.
anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern: an affair of great importance.
2.
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.
3.
an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding: When did this affair happen?
4.
thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term): Our new computer is an amazing affair.
5.
a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty: That's none of your affair.
6.
an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
7.
an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident: the Congressional bribery affair.
8.
a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion: The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.
Origin:
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
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To Affair
00:10
Affair
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
affair (əˈfɛə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business: this affair must be cleared up |
| 2. | an event or happening: a strange affair |
| 3. | (qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase) something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing: our house is a tumbledown affair |
| 4. | a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other |
| [C13: from Old French, from à faire to do] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
affair
c.1300, "what one has to do," from Anglo-Norm. afere, from O.Fr. afaire, from the infinitive phrase à faire "to do" (from L. ad "to" + facere "to do, make;" see factitious). A Northern word originally, brought into general use and given a Fr. spelling by Caxton
(15c.). General sense of "vague proceedings" (in romance, war, etc.) first attested 1702. Affairs "ordinary business" first attested 1484.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
One business that has totally boomed through these tough economic times is the affair business.
The whole affair might have been one of a confused maternal instinct, they claimed.
Because the launcher doesn't include a webcam, ballistics are a trial-and-error affair.
We pumped them for recipes for food and drink, this strawberry-hued affair being one they recommended.
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