Synonym Chooser

How does the noun affectation contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of affectation are airs, air, mannerism, and pose. While all these words mean "an adopted way of speaking or behaving," affectation applies to a trick of speech or behavior that strikes the observer as insincere.

the posh accent is an affectation

When would air be a good substitute for affectation?

While the synonyms air and affectation are close in meaning, air may suggest natural acquirement through environment or way of life.

a traveler's sophisticated air

When is it sensible to use airs instead of affectation?

The meanings of airs and affectation largely overlap; however, airs always implies artificiality and pretentiousness.

snobbish airs

When can mannerism be used instead of affectation?

Although the words mannerism and affectation have much in common, mannerism applies to an acquired eccentricity that has become a habit.

gesturing with a cigarette was her most noticeable mannerism

When is pose a more appropriate choice than affectation?

The synonyms pose and affectation are sometimes interchangeable, but pose implies an attitude deliberately assumed in order to impress others.

her shyness was just a pose

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of affectation Slumming with her sister in San Francisco after her life with her Madoff-like ex in New York implodes, Jasmine Francis isn't quite willing to let go of the affectations that come with living in high society. Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025 Unlike Chase, Aykroyd worked hard to retain Carter’s affectations and appearance, while also adding a slyness that implied a deeper calculation. Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Feb. 2025 From frame one, Bob Dylan, the creation, the idea, the trickster, the lone wolf, without attitude or affectation, your Dylan was no imitation. Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 12 Feb. 2025 In a transfixing performance that balances colorful affectation with raw hunger, the actor makes Lee a magnetic raconteur whose shield of worldly composure falls away as Eugene (Drew Starkey) eludes his grasp, leaving him a virtual ghost by the end of the film. Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for affectation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for affectation
Noun
  • Venis, as the one who’s opened the Pandora’s box, is also a mirror version of OpenAI’s Sam Altman, minus Altman’s pretensions to caution.
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 4 June 2025
  • And often next to Ed, holding a single malt, there would be an unsmiling writer of great pretension looking down at you from a great height.
    Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
Noun
  • The lines between competitive stubbornness and plain old stubbornness, a healthy arrogance and prideful ignorance are pretty thin.
    Will Graves, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 June 2025
  • Individuals with big egos display excessive pride in their abilities and accomplishments, often leading to arrogance and overconfidence.
    AllBusiness, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Noun
  • Theft by false pretense: Someone contacted a Saratoga resident claiming to work for Kaiser Hospital and the Chinese police.
    Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 17 June 2025
  • World & Nation Sean Combs’ inner circle reveals a world of guns, abuse, kidnapping and death threats May 28, 2025 The federal indictment alleges that Combs and his associates lured female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.
    Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2025
Noun
  • The main bedroom included a four-poster mahogany bed, a fireplace, a love seat, and a small table, while the bathroom offered dual vanities, ample closet space, and a deep soaking tub.
    Carole Dixon, Travel + Leisure, 18 June 2025
  • Fire vanity projects and double down on core values.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Noun
  • Internet viewers have gone wild for a fruit-loving cat not shy about sharing his disdain for bananas.
    Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
  • Trump’s disdain for multilateralism is also imperiling the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
    KORI SCHAKE, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Noun
  • Beijing’s military capabilities already surpass India’s, and given its lower defense burden—the ratio of military expenditures to GDP—China could expand its defense spending with fewer penalties to its economic growth compared with India while further widening its military superiority.
    ASHLEY J. TELLIS, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2025
  • Dad, as fathers do, asserted his physical superiority.
    Marcus Thompson II, New York Times, 17 June 2025
Noun
  • Subsequent fee rates would change based on inflation.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 20 June 2025
  • Despite inflation, most parents haven't increased their children's allowances.
    Rachel Barber, USA Today, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • Meanwhile, the Pride Month display at the Stonewall National Monument excluded transgender pride flags this year, according to ABC News.
    Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 June 2025
  • Tall soldiers, the pride of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century armies—and in the case of Frederick William I of Prussia’s Potsdam Giants, a virtual fetish—became a liability on nineteenth-century battlefields.
    Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 28 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Affectation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affectation. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.

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