affectiveadj.
/əˈfɛktɪv/, /aˈfɛktɪv/, U.S. /əˈfɛktɪv/, /æˈfɛktɪv/ 1.
a. Of or relating to the affections or emotions, esp. as contrasted with the intellect or rational faculty; emotional.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > [adjective]
affectivec1443
pathetical1603
affectual1604
pectorala1631
pathetic1649
affectuous1664
sentimental1765
pathological1796
pathematic1822
emotive1830
emotional1831
affectional1844
spiritual1848
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 386 (MED) Þat..þese inward disposiciouns..schulen soner falle awey þan in oþere men..bi cause of more mouabilnes in affectif party.
1623 Bp. J. Hall Great Impostor 4 This Monosyllable (heart)..comprises all that intellectiue and affectiue world which concerneth man;..when God saies The heart is deceitfull, he meanes, the vnderstanding, will, affections are deceitfull.
1659 N. Hardy Serm. (1865) xlii. 266/2 Pride..as well in the intellectual as in the affective faculty.
1704 H. Layton Observ. Dr. Nicholls's Bk. 56 in Arguments & Replies I am very apt to place the Affective Passionate Powers in Co-ordination with the Rational Faculty, in the Command, Government, and Direction of the Person.
1825 J. Spurzheim in Lancet 25 June 361/1 But what we have contended hitherto as affective in the mind are the feelings, the propensities and the sentiments.
1836 S. Jones Pract. Phrenol. viii. 36 The Feelings, or Affective Faculties, are divided into genera:—1. The Propensities. 2. The Sentiments.
1865 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Rationalism (1878) I. 391 Act upon and develope the affective or emotional side of human nature.
1920 E. Wharton Let. 12 Dec. (1988) 433 My tiresome heart (pump, not affective organ) ‘flanched’ again, as it does now whenever I over-exert, & I got down here really dead-beat.
1993 H. Gardner Creating Minds iii. 61 He clearly appreciated the opportunity to form both scholarly and affective links to the same individual.
b. Psychology and Psychiatry. Designating forms of mental illness attributed to disturbance of the emotions or (in later use) characterized by disturbance of mood as the primary symptom (as in depression and bipolar disorder). Esp. in affective disorder.See also seasonal affective disorder n. at seasonal adj. and n. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > other mental illness
sin-wooda1325
wanton sick1602
affective1858
theroid1867
fetishized1889
fetish1901
negativistic1902
pseudo-homosexual1908
involutional1910
regressive1911
lata1913
sadomasochistic1921
rejected1931
catathymic1934
acting-out1945
nemesistic1945
sadomasochist1945
acted-out1996
1858 J. C. Bucknill & D. H. Tuke Man. Psychol. Med. 125 At this period [of dementia] the distinction is often well marked between the strictly intellectual and affective disorder.
1868 H. Maudsley Physiol. & Pathol. Mind iii. 322 All are varying phases of the affective disorder, which, continued, usually ends in positive intellectual disorder or dementia.
1937 E. Mapother & A. Lewis in F. W. Price Textbk. Pract. Med. (ed. 5) xxi. 1844 The predisposition to an affective disorder may be latent in persons who have not been subjected to the stresses that would make it manifest.
1941 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 Mar. 308/2 A distinction..can..be made between ‘affective disorders’, comprising cases in which either the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety or depression is the main feature, and hysterical reactions.
1965 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. 111 1141/2 This simple salt..also has a therapeutic action on affective disorders.
1976 R. Mackarness Not all in Mind (1980) iv. 82 Hypomania and mania; depression known to psychiatrists as the affective psychoses (affect = mood), these often alternate in the same patient.
1988 A. Storr Solitude (1989) ix. 142 The writers interviewed had a much greater prevalence of affective illness (i.e. of severe recurrent depression or of manic-depressive illness) than did a marked control group.
2000 J. Radden Nature of Melancholy Introd. 24 Kraepelin..used the term periodic psychoses for the collection of affective conditions, which included mania, melancholia, and circular insanity.
c. Psychology and Psychiatry. Of, relating to, or involving feelings, emotion, or mood (see affect n. 5).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > [adjective] > in psychology
affective1876
non-affective1890
affectual1923
1876 H. Maudsley Physiol. of Mind i. 36 The affective functions of the brain..are the foundations of the emotions, and impulses.
1878 Mind 3 258 Here the author's first care is to mark the equivoques which even yet disturb psychological language , and keep up the confusion of two orders of phenomena so profoundly different as representative and affective facts.
1897 tr. T. A. Ribot Psychol. Emotions 1 In all affective manifestations there are two elements: the motor states or impulses, which are primary; the agreeable or painful states, which are secondary.
1912 A. A. Brill tr. S. Freud Sel. Papers on Hysteria (ed. 2) i. 7 Some important memories..on their return acted with the full affective force of new experiences.
1922 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. 13 121 Love and hate..are built of emotional stuff—they are affective phenomena.
1926 W. McDougall Outl. Abnormal Psychol. 26 The terms ‘affect’ and ‘affective’ denote the emotional-conative aspect of all mental activity.
1950 Psychiatry 13 1/2 His [sc. Freud's] own deep affective involvement in an idea.
2006 Jrnl. Autism & Developmental Disorders (Electronic ed.) 12 Aug. A deficit in empathy has consistently been cited as a central characteristic of Asperger syndrome.., but previous research on adults has predominantly focused on cognitive empathy, effectively ignoring the role of affective empathy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > zeal or enthusiasm > [adjective]
needfulOE
anguishous?c1225
eager?a1300
throc1330
fierce1377
desirousc1386
affectuousa1400
yeverousa1400
inwardc1402
earnestful?1406
rathe?c1450
zealing1459
increc1480
affectual1483
zealous1526
affectioneda1533
jealous1535
heartyc1540
affectivec1550
earnest1563
pricking1575
forward1587
affectionate1598
passiveless1602
zealful1602
full-hearteda1616
wholehearted1644
intense1645
high1649
covetous1652
thorough-hearted1656
keen as mustard1659
fell1667
fervent1673
smirk1674
zealed1679
prest1697
strenuous1713
enthusiastic1741
enthusiastical1755
whole-souled1821
con amore1828
lyrical1875
mustard1919
gung ho1942
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [adjective] > hearty or zealous
affectuousa1400
affectual1483
zealous1526
jealous1535
heartyc1540
affectivec1550
gung ho1942
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > strong or eager desire > [adjective]
yernc893
oflisteOE
courageousc1290
eager?a1300
greedya1300
keena1375
affectuousa1400
lickerousc1405
appetentc1420
affectual1483
gasping1517
zealous1531
avidious1534
avidous1542
affectivec1550
anxious1570
lickerish1579
solicitous1628
mantling1657
ambitioning1683
urgent1753
avid1769
agasp1800
concernable1886
yearnful1889
yevery1896
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xvii. 117 Throucht ane affectyue loue that there prince hes touart them.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > affection > [adjective]
chisa700
lovewendeOE
lovingOE
lovelyOE
kinda1375
fond1539
fainingc1540
affectionate1576
affectioned1578
affectiousc1580
affectionateda1586
affecting1600
dear1609
affective1613
affectional1689
attached1734
aff1752
warm1765
lovey1920
1613 W. Gamage Linsi-woolsie i. sig. C4 To his deere affectiue Cousen, Mr. I. Pralpth.
1648 Bp. J. Hall Breathings Devout Soul iii. 3 Cast me off with scorn, for casting any affective glances upon so base a rival.
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge I. xix. 236 He was the kind of man to whom some human object for pouring out his heat upon—were it affective or were it choleric—was almost a necessity.
4. Characterized by affectation; artificially assumed; = affected adj.1 3a. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [adjective] > affected or put on for effect
affectate?1555
affectated1574
affected1578
artificious1579
affective1630
theatrical1649
faux1684
false1791
posed1909
voulu1909
pseudish1938
hokey1945
pseudo1949
posé1958
plastic1963
1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 6 That which is most native and least affective, deserves choisest acceptance.
1772 Beauties Mag. 1 175 Her voice, that is naturally sweet, is changed into an affective whine, and her nerves are so delicate, that one of my honest laughs is sufficient to throw her into hysterics.
1912 D. Ferguson Castle Gay 148 But thou, too consciously proud—A vain coquette, or prude affective—Say, will this make thee, thus endowed With charms and graces so attractive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > [adjective] > existing only in feeling
affectual1614
affective1633
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > [adjective] > only in imagination or unreal
imaginary?1510
imaginative1517
rational1530
fantastical1531
fantasied1561
airy1565
fancied1568
legendary1570
dreamed1597
fabled1606
ideal1611
fictive1612
affectual1614
insubstantiala1616
imaginatorya1618
supposititious1620
fictitious1621
utopian1624
utopic1624
notional1629
affective1633
fictiousa1644
notionary1646
figmental1655
suppositious1655
fict1677
visionary1725
metaphysical1728
unrealized1767
fancy1801
nice-spun1801
subjective1815
aerial1829
transcendental1835
cardboardy1863
mythical1870
cardboard1879
fictionary1882
figmentary1887
alternative1939
alternate1944
fantasized1964
ideate1966
fanciful-
fantastic-
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 1) 402 This world God loved, affective before all time, effective in time.
1701 W. Darrell tr. G. Daniel Disc. Cleander & Eudoxus vii. 332 There is one command of God, by which we are oblig'd to have this love; which he calls affective, as there is likewise one, by which we are enjoyn'd to have this other love, which he calls effective, and the love of execution.
1780 J. Brett tr. B. J. Feijóo y Montenegro Ess. IV. 178 Where effective clemency cannot be admitted, there may be room for the introduction of the affective.
6.
a. Having the quality of influencing the emotions: affecting. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > [adjective]
ruefulc1225
pathetical1563
touchinga1586
imprintingc1592
moving1594
pathetic1598
neara1616
affectivea1639
affectuous1664
tenderingc1694
affecting1703
tender1705
emotive1847
a1639 J. Stoughton Learned Treat. (1640) i. 24 But of which and such like places Alexander Hales made it a third, neither speculative nor Practicall; but Affective.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 525 By affective Meditations, to view (as reacted) the Tragedy of this day [sc. Good Friday].
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 694 He was a judicious and grave preacher, more instructive than affective.
1759 C. Lennox tr. P. Brumoy Greek Theatre I. p. lv But the comparison of his virtues, his faults, and his misfortunes, are affective, by turning us into ourselves; and we feel, at the end of the play, all that the two tragic passions can inspire, of vivacity and tenderness.
1884 W. D. Howells Sea Change ii. 291 O Theron, be a popular orator! Be very, very classic! And affective!
2000 G. Ward in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 426/2 In religious language, metaphors set up models whereby we can picture what we do not know or cannot apprehend directly: they have an intellectual as well as an affective function.
b. gen. Having the quality of affecting; tending to affect or influence; influential, operative. Now only in sense 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [adjective]
affective1647
influential1655
soliciting1704
influencing1718
affecting1794
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. vii. 20) 285 154 Knowledge, not apprehensive only but affective too.
1678 Lively Oracles viii. §42, 318 Other manner of impressions, more affective and more lasting then bare reading will leave.
Compounds
C1. (In sense 1c.) Appositive, as affective-cognitive, affective-conative, affective-volitional, etc.
ΚΠ
1895 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 7 81 Gemüthsvorgang, affective or affective-conative process.
1909 W. M. Urban Valuation ii. 27 This conception of worth as the affective-volitional meaning of the object for the subject in different attitudes.
1921 D. H. Lawrence Psychoanal. & Unconscious i. 22 The great affective-passional functions and emotions.
1925 I. A. Richards Princ. Lit. Crit. xi. 91 The affective-volitional aspect of mental activity.
1947 M. M. Lewis Lang. in Society i. 20 British psychologists..have suggested the term ‘orectic’ as an equivalent of ‘affective-conative’.
1960 J. B. Carroll in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 341/2 Thus, the trend is from an affective-motivational role of language to a cognitive one.
2004 G. Haddock & T. L. H. Huskinson in G. Haddock & G. R. Maio Contemp. Perspectives Psychol. Attitudes ii. 39 Researchers have studied other forms of structural consistency, such as..affective-cognitive..consistency (i.e., the consistency between the evaluative implications of feelings and beliefs).
C2.
affective computing n. a branch of computing concerned with the theory and construction of machines which can detect, respond to, and simulate human emotional states.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [noun] > use of computers
computing1946
computerization1958
informatization1984
affective computing1995
cloud computing1996
1995 R. W. Picard in M.I.T. Media Lab. Perceptual Computing Section Techn. Rep. No. 321. 1 In this essay I will submit for discussion a set of ideas on what I call ‘affective computing’... I will suggest models for affect recognition, and present my ideas for new applications of affective computing to computer-assisted learning, perceptual information retrieval, arts and entertainment, and human health and interaction.
2001 F. Popcorn & A. Hanft Dict. Future 66 Affective computing could enable teaching software to understand when you are frustrated, and then slow down the process or try a different teaching technique.
2002 Chicago Tribune 20 May iv. 3/2 Scanning dozens of points on a face, the devices see everything, including what people may try to hide: an instant of confusion or a fleeting grimace that betrays a cheerful front. Such computers are the beginnings of a radical movement known as ‘affective computing’.
affective disorder n. (see sense 1b).
affective fallacy n. (in literary criticism) the fallacy that the meaning or value of a work (esp. a poem) may be judged or defined in terms of its emotional effect on the reader or hearer.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > literary criticism > [noun] > fallacies in literary criticism
intentional fallacy1946
affective fallacy1948
1948 W. K. Wimsatt & M. C. Beardsley in Poetry Dec. 155 Affective fallacy…a confusion between the poem and its results (what it is and what it does)... The affective fallacy is coupled with the intentional fallacy.., the former being a confusion between the poem and its results, the latter a confusion between the poem and its origins. Examples of the affective fallacy range from Plato's feeding and watering of the passions, Aristotle's counter-theory of catharsis, and the Longinian ‘transport’ of the audience.
1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Feb. 97/1 The Affective Fallacy, for Mr. Wimsatt..is the fallacy of the frisson, of the excited response to the isolated single line; or, more broadly, of the admirer of Dylan Thomas, say, who says: ‘I don't understand a word of it, but how wonderful!’
1979 Notes & Queries June 254/2 Dryden is unabashedly guilty of that heresy, the ‘affective fallacy’.
2000 Amer. Scholar Autumn 52 A few of these fallacies have survived and may be familiar to you: the intentional fallacy, the paraphrastic fallacy, the affective fallacy.
affective memory n. [after French mémoire affective (T. Ribot 1894, in Revue philos. 38 376)] Psychology memory of the feeling or emotion associated with an event.
ΚΠ
1895 Philos. Rev. 4 65 Professor Ribot..asserts that there is verifiable, in certain individuals at least, a truly affective memory.
1897 tr. T. A. Ribot Psychol. Emotions xi. 153 Others recall the circumstances plus the revived condition of feeling. It is these who have the true ‘affective memory’.
1943 Mod. Lang. Notes 38 504 Proust's terminology does not allow for a case of this sort; his involuntary memory is only the more common of Ribot's two types of affective memory.
2001 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Dec. ii. 1/4 Often Mr. Hackman prepares for a scene by doing an ‘affective memory’ exercise, a Stanislavsky-derived technique that involves reliving a past experience, usually traumatic, to infuse a moment with emotional truth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.c1443