affair

Plural: affairs

Noun

• An event or sequence of events of a specified kind.
• a vaguely specified concern
  • "it is none of your affair"
• a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
• a vaguely specified social event
  • "the party was quite an affair"
• Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.
• Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
• An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
• A material object (vaguely designated).
• An adulterous relationship, chiefly of a married person. (from affaire de cœur, affair of the heart).
• An otherwise illicit romantic relationship, such as with someone who is not one's regular partner (boyfriend, girlfriend).
• A person with whom someone has an adulterous relationship.
• A party or social gathering, especially of a formal nature.
• The (male or female) genitals.

Examples

• a difficult affair to manage
• an affair of honor
• an affair of love
• He used a hook-shaped affair with a long handle to unlock the car.
• Jerry's girlfriend said she wanted to go steady, but she was in an affair with one of his team-mates.
• Mary had an affair with a woman from the gym.
• This Words With Friends game has become a very serious affair.
• When Martin's wife found out about his affair with her best friend, she asked for a divorce.

Synonyms

affaire, amour, function, intimacy, involvement, liaison, matter, occasion, social function, social occasion, thing, affair, befalling, concern, episode, event, goings-on, hap, happening, incident, occurrence, proceeding

Related Words

liaison