affect

present singular third person affects · participle present affecting · participle past affected · past affected · first person past singular affected · archaic present second person singular affectest · past second person singular affected · archaic past second person singular affectedst · present singular third person affects · archaic present singular third person affecteth · past singular third person affected · past plural affected · past subjunctive affected · participle present affecting · participle past affected

1. transitiveTo influence or alter.

   The experience affected me deeply.

   3 more examples

   The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction.

   The climate affected their health and spirits.

   1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC

   Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

   2012 January 28, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 74

   Synonyms: alter, change, have an effect on, influence, play a role in, play a part in

2. transitiveTo move to emotion.

   He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play.

   1 more example

   A consideration of the rationale of our passions seems to me very necessary for all who would affect them upon solid and pure principles.

   1757, Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

   Synonyms: move, touch

3. transitivemedicineOf an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).

   Hepatitis affects the liver.

   Synonyms: attack, harm, infect

4. archaictransitiveTo dispose or incline.

   men whom they thought best affected to religion and their country's liberty

   1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC

5. archaictransitiveTo tend to by affinity or disposition.

   The drops of every fluid affect a round figure.

   1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC

6. archaictransitiveTo assign; to appoint.

   One of the domestics was affected to his special service.

   1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

7. transitiveScots lawTo burden (property) with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction.
8. archaictransitiveTo feign or pretend.

   The light above the door made it unconvincing to affect that no one was at home.

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

present singular third person affects · participle present affecting · participle past affected · past affected

1. transitiveTo make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume. To make a false display of.First known use 16th c.

   to affect ignorance

   5 more examples

   to affect a British accent

   He managed to affect a smile despite feeling quite miserable.

   Thou dost affect my manners.

   c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]

   Careless she is with artful care, / Affecting to seem unaffected.

   a. 1729, William Congreve, A Hue and Cry After Fair Amoret

   He affected prescription lenses, framed in spidery gold, ground from thin slabs of pink synthetic quartz and beveled like the mirrors in a Victorian dollhouse.

   1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 12

   Synonyms: fake, simulate, feign

2. obsoletetransitiveTo aim for, to try to obtain.First known use 15th–19th c.

   Wiſe are thy words, and glad I would obey, / But this proud man affects imperial ſway.

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 430

   3 more examples

   Duke.[...] I loue the people, But doe not like to stage me to their eyes: Though it doe well, I doe not rellish well Their lowd applause, and Aues vehement: Nor doe I thinke the man of safe discretion That do's affect it.

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

   For it is believed, that he never was married, affecting and embracing Chastity through the whole course of his Life.

   1662, Jacques Olivier, translated by Richard Banke, A Discourse of Women, Shewing Their Imperfections Alphabetically, →OCLC, page 15

   I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated.

   1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series

3. raretransitiveTo feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of.First known use 16th c.

   From that day forth she gan to him affect, / And daily more her favour to augment […]

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   4 more examples

   There is a Lady in Verona heere Whom I affect: but she is nice, and coy, And naught esteemes my aged eloquence.

   c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

   A young gentlewoman in Basil was married[…]to an ancient man against her will, whom she could not affect; she was continually melancholy, and pined away for grief […]

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection vii

   As for Queen Katharine, he rather respected, then affected; rather honoured, then loved her.

   1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), page 173

   But when he pleased to show 't, his speech / In loftiness of sound was rich; / A Babylonish dialect, / Which learned pedants much affect.

   1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC

4. obsoletetransitiveTo show a fondness for (something); to choose.First known use 16th c.

   1825, William Hazlitt, “On the Conduct of life: or Advice to a schoolboy” in Table-Talk Volume II, Paris: A. & W. Galignani, p. 284, Do not affect the society of your inferiors in rank, nor court that of the great.

   3 more examples

   Amongst humane conditions this one is very common, that we are rather pleased with strange things then with our owne; we love changes, affect alterations, and like innovations.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 9, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book III, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   Go, let him have a table by himself, for he does neither affect company, nor is he fit for’t, indeed.

   c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   Think not, because he affecteth silks and jewels like a queen, and carrieth himself light and dainty as a silver birch tree on the mountain, that his hand is light or his courage doubtful in war.

   1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, pages 5–6

plural affects

1. human sciencesA subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus.

   A third study demonstrated that the effects of self-affirmation on self-regulated performance were not due to positive affect.

   2004, Jeffrey Greenberg, Thomas A Pyszczynski, Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, page 407

   1 more example

   if we are afraid of robbers in a dream, the robbers are certainly imaginary, but the fear is real. This draws our attention to the fact that the development of affects [translating Affectentwicklung] in dreams is not amenable to the judgement we make of the rest of the dream-content [...].

   1899, Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford, published 2008, page 62

2. human sciencesMood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.First known use 19th c.

   Britton has straight blond hair, blue eyes, and a muted affect. When you say something to her, she pauses, as if considering whether or not to smile. A colleague once suggested to her that she might be autistic. “And I’m like, ‘Okay,’” she told me one day recently.

   2026 September 4, Olga Khazan, “The Dark Side of Mindfulness”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 19 Sep 2026

3. obsoleteOne's mood or inclination; mental state.First known use 14th–17th c.
4. obsoleteA desire, an appetite.First known use 16th–17th c.