Definition of AFFECTING

Choose the Right Synonym for affecting

moving, impressive, poignant, affecting, touching, pathetic mean having the power to produce deep emotion. moving may apply to any strong emotional effect including thrilling, agitating, saddening, or calling forth pity or sympathy. a moving appeal for contributions impressive implies compelling attention, admiration, wonder, or conviction. an impressive list of achievements poignant applies to what keenly or sharply affects one's sensitivities. a poignant documentary on the homeless affecting is close to moving but most often suggests pathos. an affecting deathbed reunion touching implies arousing tenderness or compassion. the touching innocence in a child's eyes pathetic implies moving to pity or sometimes contempt. pathetic attempts to justify misconduct

Examples of affecting in a Sentence

He begins his book with an affecting description of his difficult childhood. the affecting final scene in the play, when the children are reunited with their father

Recent Examples on the Web But though the fighting is phenomenal and the setting is iconic, one of the most affecting elements of the lightsaber battle isn’t the battle itself but what happens once the lightsabers get switched off. — Lauren Morgan, EW.com, "Ranking the best lightsaber battles in Star Wars, from A New Hope to The Last Jedi," 19 Dec. 2019 News crews on Monday documented a similarly affecting scene, with children being carried away from crumpled cars in stretchers as firetrucks and yellow police tape blocked off the downtown street. — Author: Antonia Noori Farzan, Anchorage Daily News, "A Dayton stabbing suspect stole and crashed a police SUV, killing 2 children and injuring 9 people," 27 Aug. 2019 One of the most affecting illustrations of our malign influence appears in the middle of Macfarlane’s book. — New York Times, "The Unseen Worlds Beneath Us: Places of Beauty, Danger and Wisdom," 7 June 2019 La Serna and Starn tell this story through the most affecting portrait of the book, that of María Elena Moyano, the insouciant daughter of urban homesteaders. — Rachel Nolan, Harper's magazine, "A Jagged Scrap of History," 24 June 2019 One of the most affecting sections in Jones’s biography examines Geisel’s moral evolution, demonstrating how an artist could answer to his conscience independently, if imperfectly, decades before the advent of cancel culture. — I-huei Go, The New Yorker, "How Dr. Seuss Changed Education in America," 5 June 2019 What The First is: a surprisingly affecting drama about several families and a planet in crisis. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "Hulu’s The First is everything wrong with modern TV drama. Reader, I loved it.," 14 Sep. 2018 One of the most affecting pieces in the show drives this point home. — Jillian Steinhauer, The New Republic, "Adrian Piper’s art plays with identity and confronts defensiveness.," 30 May 2018 The tragedy of watching him try to extract himself from his Soviet minders, connect with his oblivious son, and try to find his moral core is the most affecting part of the show. — Taylor Antrim, Vogue, "Is The Americans a Good Show, or a Great One? The Next 2 Weeks Will Settle the Question," 18 May 2018

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

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Last Updated

26 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Affecting.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affecting. Accessed 25 January 2020.