n.
- Something done or to be done; business.
- affairs Transactions and other matters of professional or public business: affairs of state.
- An occurrence, event, or matter: The senator's death was a tragic affair.
- A social function.
- An object or a contrivance: Their first car was a ramshackle affair.
- A matter of personal concern.
- affairs Personal business: get one's affairs in order.
- A matter causing public scandal and controversy: the Dreyfus affair.
- A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.
[Middle English affaire, from Old French afaire, from a faire, to do : a, to (from Latin ad; see ad-) + faire, to do (from facere).]
SYNONYMS affair, business, concern, lookout. These nouns denote something that involves one personally: I won't comment on that; it's not my affair. That's none of your business. Mind your own concerns. It's your lookout to file your application on time.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
