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affection

noun
af·​fec·​tion | \ ə-ˈfek-shən How to pronounce affection (audio) \

Definition of affection

1 : a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something : tender attachment : fondness She had a deep affection for her parents.
2 : a moderate feeling or emotion
3a(1) : a bodily condition
(2) : disease, malady a pulmonary affection
b : attribute shape and weight are affections of bodies
4 obsolete : partiality, prejudice
5 : the feeling aspect (as in pleasure) of consciousness
6a : propensity, disposition
b archaic : affectation sense 1
7 : the action of affecting : the state of being affected
8 : umlaut sense 2 —used especially in the grammar of the Celtic languages
Other Words from affection Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Affectation and Affection More Example Sentences Learn More about affection

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Other Words from affection

affectionless \ -​ləs How to pronounce affectionless (audio) \ adjective

Choose the Right Synonym for affection

feeling, emotion, affection, sentiment, passion mean a subjective response to a person, thing, or situation. feeling denotes any partly mental, partly physical response marked by pleasure, pain, attraction, or repulsion; it may suggest the mere existence of a response but imply nothing about the nature or intensity of it. the feelings that once moved me are gone emotion carries a strong implication of excitement or agitation but, like feeling, encompasses both positive and negative responses. the drama portrays the emotions of adolescence affection applies to feelings that are also inclinations or likings. a memoir of childhood filled with affection for her family sentiment often implies an emotion inspired by an idea. her feminist sentiments are well known passion suggests a very powerful or controlling emotion. revenge became his ruling passion

Affectation and Affection

Affectation looks a lot like a much more common word, affection. But the two are used very differently.

The more familiar word, affection, in modern use means "a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something," as in "They show their dog a lot of affection."

Affectation, on the other hand, refers to a form of behavior that's unnatural to the person engaging in it, and that is meant to impress other people. A phony accent someone uses to sound more sophisticated, for example, can be considered an affectation, as can pretending to know all about some obscure band in order to seem cool.

The words don't have much in common in their use, but their similarity in appearance is not coincidence. Both have to do with one of the trickiest words in the language: affect.

Affect is one of the most frequently looked-up words in the dictionary, primarily because of its regular confusion with effect. The short rationale that you often hear when it comes to distinguishing the two is that effect is usually a noun and affect is a verb. The breakdown isn't all that simple, however, and what makes things even more confusing is that there are two verb entries for affect.

One affect entry is for the sense meaning "to produce an effect upon (someone)" or "to act upon (a person, a person's mind or feelings, etc.) so as to effect a response." This is the sense that connects to affection, as in "We were affected by the young woman's heartfelt speech." Being affected by something in this way doesn't necessarily result in affection, but it can.

The other verb affect is defined as "to make a display of liking or using : cultivate" or "to put a pretense on : feign." It is used when talking about things like styles or mannerisms, as in "He affected a British accent and tweedy look after reading nothing but Sherlock Holmes stories for months on end."

The two verbs affect took different etymological paths from the same origin. The "put on a pretense" sense of affect derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin affectāre, meaning "to try to accomplish, strive after, pretend to have." Affectāre is a derivative of afficere, which means "to produce an effect on, exert an influence on"; the affect related to affection is from a variant of afficere.

Examples of affection in a Sentence

She has deep affection for her parents. He shows great affection for his grandchildren. feelings of love and affection He now looks back on those years with great affection. She developed a deep affection for that country and its people.
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Recent Examples on the Web

 Keep your conversations aimed at preserving the intrinsic trust and affection of those familial relationships. — Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, "The sister-in-law and the not-so-essential oils," 4 Aug. 2019 He was not adopted son Tim Lincecum, who seemed like the perfect temperament match for San Francisco and was held with both affection and protection. — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, "Madison Bumgarner has been the Giants’ sure thing. Until now," 22 July 2019 Everyone in the massive grandstand rose to cheer and celebrate a bold performance by Rory McIlroy, who longed for such support and affection on his walk toward his final hole at Royal Portrush in the British Open. — Doug Ferguson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Shane Lowry and J.B. Holmes share Open lead while Rory McIlroy leaves to cheers," 19 July 2019 These refusals to see the self or others clearly arise from varied motives—at times malice or greed but more often affection and even love. — Laura Kolbe, WSJ, "‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ Review: Wishing and Waiting," 12 July 2019 Similarly, at 54, Keanu Reeves is experiencing a resurgence of affection and attention. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "Humans don’t actually want to be immortal, we just want to be forever young," 27 June 2019 No one captures so well the gruff affection of men or the friction between guys from different classes. — Ron Charles, Dallas News, "In Richard Russo's 'Chances Are...,' a charming reunion unearths a chilling disappearance," 30 July 2019 No one captures so well the gruff affection of men or the friction between guys from different classes. — Ron Charles Critic, Washington Post, "In Richard Russo’s ‘Chances Are,’ a charming reunion unearths a chilling disappearance," 29 July 2019 One aspect of lion family life that Disney did get right, however, is the affection Mufasa shows to his son. — Knvul Sheikh, New York Times, "How ‘The Lion King’ Gets Real-Life Lion Family Dynamics Wrong," 21 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'affection.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of affection

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

History and Etymology for affection

Middle English affeccioun "capacity for feeling, emotion, desire, love," borrowed from Anglo-French, "desire, love, inclination, partiality," borrowed from Latin affectiƍn-, affectiƍ "frame of mind, feeling, feeling of attachment," from affec- (variant stem of afficere "to produce an effect on, exert an influence on") + -tiƍn-, -tiƍ, suffix of action nouns — more at affect entry 1

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More Definitions for affection

affection

noun
af·​fec·​tion | \ ə-ˈfek-shən How to pronounce affection (audio) \

Kids Definition of affection

: a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something He shows great affection for his grandchildren.

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