affair

noun

af·fair | \ ə-ˈfer

Definition of affair

1a affairs plural : commercial, professional, public, or personal business handles the company's public affairs an expert in foreign affairs

b : matter, concern How I choose to live is my affair, not yours.

2 : a procedure, action, or occasion only vaguely specified also : an object or collection of objects only vaguely specified Their house was a 2-story affair.

3 or less commonly affaire

a : a romantic or passionate attachment typically of limited duration : liaison sense 2b had an affair with a coworker

b : a matter occasioning public anxiety, controversy, or scandal : case the Watergate affair of the early 1970s

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about affair

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Examples of affair in a Sentence

After the war, the government focused on its own domestic affairs. They accused the U.S. of interfering in the internal affairs of other nations. How I choose to live is my affair, not yours. adulterous affairs between married men and single women

Recent Examples on the Web

The White House’s legislative affairs team has talked to more than 290 members of Congress and staff over the past two months to push the deal. — Kevin Freking, The Seattle Times, "GOP lawmakers set goal of summer vote for trade deal," 26 Mar. 2019 On Thursday, March 21, the Frick Collection hosted their annual Young Fellows Ball, a glamorous affair that brought together an A-list crowd of young New Yorkers to support the museum. — Maggie Maloney, Town & Country, "Inside the Frick Young Fellows Ball 2019," 22 Mar. 2019 There are so many affairs between characters that there's even a chart—actually referred to as The Chart—mapping them all. — Hannah Dylan Pasternak, SELF, "15 Netflix Shows With the Hottest Sex Scenes You Need to Watch," 21 Dec. 2018 Hiram and Hermione discuss exposing Sierra's affair with Sheriff Keller, but Veronica gets to the mayor first, convincing her to come clean about the relationship and step down as mayor, leaving a nice empty seat open for yet another Lodge puppet. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "A Comprehensive List of All of Hiram Lodge's Schemes on "Riverdale"," 13 Dec. 2018 Canseco has alleged on previous occasions that that his fellow former Yankees colleague had an affair with his ex-wife. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Who is Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez's Yankees Colleague Speaking Out on His Relationship?," 11 Mar. 2019 The National Enquirer published a story revealing that Bezos had been having an extramarital affair with Sanchez for eight months. — Rose Minutaglio, Town & Country, "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez: Inside Their Relationship," 8 Feb. 2019 But rumors swirled that Lionel was having an affair and the couple separated. — Marie Milano, Country Living, "A Detailed Timeline of Lionel Richie's Marriages and Relationships," 3 Mar. 2019 At the time, Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky wasn’t publicly known. — Andrew Prokop, Vox, "The drama over Trump answering Mueller’s questions, explained," 20 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'affair.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for affair

Middle English aferes "activities," affaire "enterprise," borrowed from Anglo-French afaire, affere "business, activity, enterprise, matter, topic, situation," from the phrase a faire "to do," from a "to" (going back to Latin ad) + faire "to do," going back to Latin facere — more at at entry 1, do entry 1