affair

UK: /əˈfɛə^r/ US: /əˈfɛr/ ,(ə fâr′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

af•fair /əˈfɛr/   n. [countable]

1. anything requiring action or effort;
   business:
   resolved the affair with your lawyer.
2. affairs, [plural] matters of commercial or public interest or concern:
   affairs of state.
3. thing;
   matter:
   Our new computer is a complex affair.
4. [singular] a private or personal concern:
   That's none of your affair.
5. an often brief sexual relationship between two people not married to each other.
6. an incident that causes argument, talk, and often public scandal.
7. a social gathering or other organized festive occasion.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

af•fair  (ə fâr′), n. 

1. anything done or to be done;
   anything requiring action or effort;
   business;
   concern:
   an affair of great importance.
2. affairs, matters of commercial or public interest or concern;
   the transactions of public or private business or finance:
   affairs of state; Before taking such a long trip you should put all your affairs in order.
3. an event or a performance;
   a particular action, operation, or proceeding:
   When did this affair happen?
4. thing;
   matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term):
   Our new computer is an amazing affair.
5. a private or personal concern;
   a special function, business, or duty:
   That's none of your affair.
6. an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
7. an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal;
   incident:
   the Congressional bribery affair.
8. a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion:
   The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.

• Old French
• Latin ad to) + faire Latin facere; replacing Middle English afere
• French, Old French afaire for a faire to do, equivalent. to a (
• earlier affaire 1250–1300

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

affair / əˈfɛə/ noun

1. a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business
2. an event or happening: a strange affair
3. (qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase) something previously specified, esp an object; thing: our house is a tumbledown affair
4. a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French, from à faire to do