Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something done or experienced; a matter or event.
- noun A matter of personal concern.
- noun A matter causing public scandal and controversy.
- noun A social function.
- noun Transactions and other matters of professional or public business.
- noun Personal business.
- noun An object or a contrivance.
- noun A sexual relationship between two people, especially when at least one of them is married or in another committed romantic relationship.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Anything done or to be done; that which requires action or effort; a moving interest; business; concern: as, this is an affair of great moment; a man of affairs; affairs of state.
- noun plural Matters of interest or concern; particular doings or interests; specifically, pecuniary interests or relations: as, to meddle with a neighbor's affairs; his affairs are in an embarrassed state.
- noun An event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding; military, a partial or minor engagement or contest; a skirmish: as, when did this affair happen: an affair of honor, or of outposts.
- noun A private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty.
- noun Thing; matter; concern: applied to anything made or existing, with a descriptive or qualifying term: as, this machine is a complicated affair; his anger is an affair of no consequence.
- noun Endeavor; attempt.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern
- noun Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
- noun (Mil.) An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
- noun obsolete Action; endeavor.
- noun A material object (vaguely designated).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; — often in the plural.
- noun Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
- noun military An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
- noun A material object (vaguely designated).
- noun An
adulterous relationship. (from affaire de cœur.)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
- noun a vaguely specified concern
- noun a vaguely specified social event
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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What does 'internal affair' really mean? yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'What does \'internal affair\' really mean? '
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I agree with Meghan that the affair is a private matter.
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Often people begin to see what they want to preserve at the moment that their affair is about to come out of hiding.
Esther Perel: An Affair To Remember: What Happens In Couples After Someone Cheats? Part Two Esther Perel 2010
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The troublesome aspect of this affair is the ineptitude on display at the Justice Department.
Election Reform 2010
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Often people begin to see what they want to preserve at the moment that their affair is about to come out of hiding.
Esther Perel: An Affair To Remember: What Happens In Couples After Someone Cheats? Part Two Esther Perel 2010
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The only one who seems to care about the affair is the media.
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In my eyes, the affair is the truly serious issue morally.
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Bryn JonesBath• Ian Jack's use of the word "affair" to describe the sexual abuse of 16-year-old Michael Ward by his mother Obituary, 18 May was bizarre.
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June 29th, 2009 2: 37 pm ET while I agree that his affair is a personal matter, I feel that Mr. Sanford should step down because he abandoned his post for 5 days without notifying anyone of his wherabouts.
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If he'd done all this WITHOUT the affair he'd have already been given the axe ... the affair is a smokescreen that the reps and Sanford are using for sympathy.
Comments
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