Definitions for affair
əˈfɛəraf·fair

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. matter, affair, thingnoun

   a vaguely specified concern

   "several matters to attend to"; "it is none of your affair"; "things are going well"

2. affair, affaire, intimacy, liaison, involvement, amournoun

   a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship

3. affair, occasion, social occasion, function, social functionnoun

   a vaguely specified social event

   "the party was quite an affair"; "an occasion arranged to honor the president"; "a seemingly endless round of social functions"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. affairnoun

   That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; often in the plural.

2. affairnoun

   Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.

3. affairnoun

   An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.

4. affairnoun

   A material object (vaguely designated).

   He used a hook-shaped affair with a long handle to unlock the car.

5. affairnoun

   An adulterous relationship. (from affaire de cur.)

6. Etymology: From afere, affere, from afaire, from a- + faire; Latin ad- + facere to do. See fact, and confer ado.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affairnoun

   Business; something to be managed or transacted. It is used for both private and publick matters.

   Etymology: affaire, Fr.

   I was not born for courts or great affairs;
   I pay my debts, believe, and say my prayers. Alexander Pope.

   A good acquaintance with method will greatly assist every one in ranging, disposing, and managing all human affairs. Isaac Watts, Logick.

   What St. John’s skill in state affairs,
   What Ormond’s valour, Oxford’s cares,
   To aid their sinking country lent,
   Was all destroy’d by one event. Jonathan Swift.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affairnoun

   that which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; as, a difficult affair to manage; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; -- often in the plural. "At the head of affairs." Junius

2. Affairnoun

   any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely; as, an affair of honor, i. e., a duel; an affair of love, i. e., an intrigue

3. Affairnoun

   an action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle

4. Affairnoun

   action; endeavor

5. Affairnoun

   a material object (vaguely designated)

6. Etymology: [OE. afere, affere, OF. afaire, F. affaire, fr. a faire to do; L.. ad + facere to do. See Fact, and cf. Ado.]

Freebase(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Affair

   An affair is a sexual relationship or a romantic friendship or passionate attachment between two people.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Affair

   af-fār′, n. that which is to be done: business: any small matter: a battle of minor importance: a matter of intimate personal concern, as a duel—a so-called affair of honour, or an intrigue: (pl.) transactions in general: public concerns. [O. Fr. afaire (Fr. affaire)—à and faire—L. ad, and facĕre, to do. Cf. Ado.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. affair

   An indecisive engagement; a duel.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. affair

   An action or engagement, not of sufficient magnitude to be termed a battle.

Matched Categories

1. • Concern
   • Sexual Relationship
   • Social Event

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'affair' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3006

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'affair' in Nouns Frequency: #414

Anagrams for affair »

1. raffia

How to pronounce affair?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say affair in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of affair in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of affair in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of affair in a Sentence

1. Irvin Feld:

   This is a whole family affair, it's a family affair for our family but also for all the elephants.

2. Scott Amos:

   Now we've all come to an agreement that it's been such a family affair, we should continue the fun with a Disney vacation.

3. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu:

   Our worry is that leadership in Nigeria seems to be a 'do or die' affair. That level of desperation is a problem.

4. Barbara Howar:

   There is nothing better for the spirit or the body than a love affair. It elevates the thoughts and flattens the stomachs.

5. Lamine Diaby-Fadiga:

   I wish him a lot of success at OGC Nice and in his career. Maybe one day we will come across each other on a pitch and this affair will be merely a bad memory.

Popularity rank by frequency of use