affection
noun
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Affectation and Affection
Affectation looks a lot like a much more common word, affection. But the two are used very differently.
The more familiar word, affection, in modern use means "a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something," as in "They show their dog a lot of affection."
Affectation, on the other hand, refers to a form of behavior that's unnatural to the person engaging in it, and that is meant to impress other people. A phony accent someone uses to sound more sophisticated, for example, can be considered an affectation, as can pretending to know all about some obscure band in order to seem cool.
The words don't have much in common in their use, but their similarity in appearance is not coincidence. Both have to do with one of the trickiest words in the language: affect.
Affect is one of the most frequently looked-up words in the dictionary, primarily because of its regular confusion with effect. The short rationale that you often hear when it comes to distinguishing the two is that effect is usually a noun and affect is a verb. The breakdown isn't all that simple, however, and what makes things even more confusing is that there are two verb entries for affect.
One affect entry is for the sense meaning "to produce an effect upon (someone)" or "to act upon (a person, a person's mind or feelings, etc.) so as to effect a response." This is the sense that connects to affection, as in "We were affected by the young woman's heartfelt speech." Being affected by something in this way doesn't necessarily result in affection, but it can.
The other verb affect is defined as "to make a display of liking or using : cultivate" or "to put a pretense on : feign." It is used when talking about things like styles or mannerisms, as in "He affected a British accent and tweedy look after reading nothing but Sherlock Holmes stories for months on end."
The two verbs affect took different etymological paths from the same origin. The "put on a pretense" sense of affect derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin affectāre, meaning "to try to accomplish, strive after, pretend to have." Affectāre is a derivative of afficere, which means "to produce an effect on, exert an influence on"; the affect related to affection is from a variant of afficere.
Examples of affection in a Sentence
JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2025
Thea has helped the object of her affection finish a manuscript that, once published, will assure this author both literary glory and a spot at the university.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
At 12, Aaron became the object of Hank’s affection.
—Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
While you might be tempted to greet your dog with overflowing love and affection, Millan says this is the wrong approach.
—Madeline Gunderson, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for affection
Cite this Entry
“Affection.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affection. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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affection
noun
Medical Definition
affection
1 of 2 noun
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