af·fect
Pronounced:
/əˈfɛkt/
Function:
verbInflected forms:
af·fects; af·fect·ed; af·fect·ingMeaning:
[+ obj] 1 : to produce an effect on (someone or something): such as a : to act on (someone or something) and cause a change ▪ His decisions could affect [=influence] the lives of millions of people. ▪ The accident will affect [=influence] the value of the car. ▪ We learned about the way the oceans are affected by the moon. ▪ This medication may affect your ability to drive a car. [=this medicine may make it dangerous for you to drive a car] ▪ This new evidence will affect the outcome of the trial. ▪ The news could adversely affect [=could hurt] her chances of becoming the next president. ▪ We kept the change from affecting [=harming] our friendship. ▪ The incident really affected my opinion of him. b : to cause strong emotions in (someone) ▪ The criticism affected [=bothered, upset] her deeply/greatly. ▪ The entire town was affected by their deaths. [=everyone in the town felt sad about their deaths] ▪ We were all greatly affected by the terrible news. [=we were all very upset by the terrible news] c : to cause a change in (a part of the body) ▪ Paralysis affected his limbs. = His limbs were affected by/with paralysis. [=his limbs were paralyzed] ▪ The disease can affect your muscles. ▪ drugs that affect the nervous/immune system d : to cause illness in (someone) ▪ The condition affects about five million adults each year. ▪ a serious disease primarily/mainly affecting women over the age of 40 ▪ Only men appear to be affected by the disease.
2 formal : to pretend that a false behavior or feeling is natural or genuine ▪ She affected indifference [=she pretended that she did not care], though she was deeply hurt. ▪ He affected (a look of) surprise. [=he pretended to be surprised] ▪ She affects [=feigns] a warm friendly manner. ▪ He affected [=faked] a French accent.
usage Do not confuse the verbs affect and effect. Affect means to act on or change someone or something. ▪ Rain affected [=influenced] their performance. Effect means to cause something to happen. ▪ The new president effected [=made, caused] many changes to/in the company's policies. Note that the verb affect and the noun effect are used in contexts that are similar. ▪ The weather affected our plans. = The weather had an effect on our plans. [=the weather caused us to change our plans]
2 formal : to pretend that a false behavior or feeling is natural or genuine ▪ She affected indifference [=she pretended that she did not care], though she was deeply hurt. ▪ He affected (a look of) surprise. [=he pretended to be surprised] ▪ She affects [=feigns] a warm friendly manner. ▪ He affected [=faked] a French accent.