Affectation

//ˌæf.ɛkˈteɪ.ʃən// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An attempt to assume or exhibit what is not natural or real; false display; artificial show. countable, uncountable

    "This poem is strongly tinctured with those pedantic affectations concerning the passion of love ..."

  2. 2
    a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display wordnet
  3. 3
    An unusual mannerism. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    An ostentatious fondness for something. countable, rare, uncountable, with-of

    "The grace diuineſt Mercvrie hath done me, / In this vouchſafde diſcouerie of himſelfe, / Binds my obſeruance in the vtmoſt terme / Of ſatisfaction, to his godly will: / Though I profeſſe (without the affectation / Of an enforc’d, and form’d auſteritie) / I could be willing to enioy no place / With ſo vnequall natures."

Synonyms

All synonyms
mannerismactactingactionactionsactivity

Example

More examples

"With an air of nonchalance which, under the circumstances, seemed to me to border upon affectation, he lounged up and down the pavement, and gazed vacantly at the ground, the sky, the opposite houses and the line of railings."

Etymology

From Middle French affectation and its etymon Latin affectātiōnem, from affectō (“I feign”). By surface analysis, affect + -ation.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.