affair

noun

af·​fair ə-ˈfer 

1

a

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 of affair

• romance
• fling
• intrigue
• liaison

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 Sharks were looking for a better result against Tampa Bay after they were hammered by the Lightning in a testy affair earlier this month at SAP Center. —Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026

There is an extramarital affair and even brief partial nudity. —Will Ripley, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026

Although Raber and Eli initially alleged that their affair had ended six months before June 2009, their text messages later contradicted those claims. —Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026

In 2004, Loos claimed to have had an affair with Beckham. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 20 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing affair

• love affair
• none of someone's affair/business

Rhymes for affair

• abwehr
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare
• cookware

Kids Definition

affair

noun

af·​fair ə-ˈfa(ə)r 

-ˈfe(ə)r

1

a

plural : commercial, professional, public, or personal business

government affairs

arranged my affairs before leaving

b

: concern entry 2 sense 1, matter

not your affair at all

2

a

: event sense 1b, activity

a social affair

b

: product sense 2, thing

the house was a two-story affair

3

: a brief romantic relationship