affectation
American Heritage Dictionary:
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af·fec·ta·tion
(ăf'ĕk-tā'shən) 
n.
n.
- A show, pretense, or display.
- Behavior that is assumed rather than natural; artificiality.
- A particular habit, as of speech or dress, adopted to give a false impression.
[Latin affectātiō, affectātiōn-, from affectātus, past participle of affectāre, to strive after. See affect2.]
SYNONYMS affectation, pose, air, mannerism. These nouns refer to personal behavior assumed for effect. An affectation is artificial behavior, often adopted in imitation of someone, that is perceived as being unnatural: "His [Arthur Rubinstein's] playing stripped away . . . the affectations and exaggerations that characterized Chopin interpretation before his arrival" (Michael Kimmelman). Pose denotes an attitude adopted to call favorable attention to oneself: His humility is only a pose. Air, meaning a distinctive but intangible quality, does not always imply sham: The director had an air of authority. In the plural, however, it suggests affectation and self-importance: The movie star was putting on airs. Mannerism denotes an idiosyncratic trait or quirk, often one that others find obtrusive and distracting: His mannerism of closing his eyes as he talked made it seem as if he were deep in thought.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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affectation
noun
- Artificial behavior adopted to impress others: affectedness, air (used in plural), mannerism, pose, pretense. See honest/dishonest, true/false.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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affectation
n
Definition: pretended behavior to make an impression
Antonyms: naturalness, simplicity
Quotes About:
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Affectation
Quotes:
"Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of himself."
- Georg C. Lichtenberg
"Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there."
- Eric Hoffer
"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?"
- Fanny Brice
Translations:
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Affectation
Dansk (Danish)
n. - unaturlighed, affektation
Nederlands (Dutch)
pretenties, aanstellerij
Français (French)
n. - affectation, simulation
Deutsch (German)
n. - Affektiertheit, Verstellung
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - επιτήδευση, εκζήτηση, επίδειξη
Italiano (Italian)
affettazione
Português (Portuguese)
n. - afetação (f), presunção (f), fingimento (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - afectación, amaneramiento, simulación
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tillgjordhet
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
假装, 虚饰, 做作
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 假裝, 虛飾, 做作
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ふりをすること, 気取り
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) تظاهر, تكلف, تصنع
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - התנהגות במטרה להרשים, העמדת פנים
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Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
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.
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Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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