If an event or a series of events has been mentioned and you want to talk about it again, you can refer to it as the affair.
The government has mishandled the whole affair.
The affair began when customs officials inspected a convoy of 60 tankers.
The industry minister described the affair as 'an absolute scandal'.
Synonyms: matter, thing, business, question More Synonyms of affair
2. singular noun
You can refer to an important or interesting event or situation as 'the ... affair'.
[mainly journalism]
...a reduction of defence expenditures in the wake of the Suez affair.
3. singular noun
You can describe the main quality of an event by saying that it is a particular kind of affair.
Michael said that his planned 10-day visit would be a purely private affair.
Breakfast will be a cheerless affair for the Prime Minister this morning.
Synonyms: occasion, happening, experience, event More Synonyms of affair
4. singular noun
You can describe an object as a particular kind of affair when you want to draw attention to a particular feature, or indicate that it is unusual.
All their beds were distinctive; Mac's was an iron affair with brass knobs.
He divided it into two bundles, tied them to his walking stick, and slung the wholeaffair across his back.
5. countable noun
If two people who are not married to each other have an affair, they have a sexual relationship.
She was having an affair with someone at work.
6. See also love affair
7. plural noun
You can use affairs to refer to all the important facts or activities that are connected with a particular subject.
He does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of another country.
With more details, here's our foreign affairs correspondent.
8. See also current affairs, state of affairs
9. plural noun [usually poss NOUN]
Your affairs are all the matters connected with your life which you consider to be private and normally deal with yourself.
He was rational and consistent in the conduct of his affairs.
The unexpectedness of my father's death meant that his affairs were not entirelyin order.
10. singular noun [poss NOUN]
If you say that a decision or situation is someone's affair, you mean that it is their responsibility, and other people should not interfere.
If you wish to make a fool of yourself, that is your affair.
If they want to stay and fight, then I guess that's their affair.
Synonyms: concern, problem, business, matter More Synonyms of affair
More Synonyms of affair
affair in British English
(əˈfɛə)
noun
1.
a thing to be done or attended to; matter; business
this affair must be cleared up
2.
an event or happening
a strange affair
3. (qualified by an adjective or descriptive phrase)
something previously specified, esp a man-made object; thing
our house is a tumbledown affair
4.
a sexual relationship between two people who are not married to each other
Word origin
C13: from Old French, from à faire to do
affair in American English
(əˈfɛr)
noun
1.
a thing to be done; business
2. [pl.]
matters of business or concern
3.
any matter, occurrence, or thing
4.
a social function or gathering
5.
an event that becomes a matter of public controversy
6.
an amorous relationship between two people not married to each other; an amour
Word origin
ME afere < OFr afaire < a faire, to do < L ad-, to + facere, do1; (sense 6) < love affair
Examples of 'affair' in a sentence
affair
Is our love affair with technology coming to an end?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Yet it was the current affairs show clips that really shocked.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
His love affair with manhole covers had begun.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Current affairs and politics became her special interests.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Which is admittedly festive, but lends a rather different meaning to the whole affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The woman I had the affair with worked with me there for eight years.
The Sun (2016)
A foreign billionaire is conducting his legal affairs in the British courts under a cloak of anonymity granted by senior judges.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The foreign affairs committee also accused the foreign office of hindering its investigation into the government report, whose findings were published last December.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
We need to split up news and current affairs again.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Times may be hard but the love affair between the law and the arts goes on.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
She keeps a close eye on her business affairs.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It can have the same disastrous effect on a relationship as any affair.
The Sun (2014)
These affairs are largely matters of political will.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The poll also showed people want fewer affairs and more love stories.
The Sun (2010)
They are much more concerned about the affairs of our country.
Christianity Today (2000)
It is understood the affair ended two years ago.
The Sun (2007)
Returned to the game to do foreign affairs.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
No teacher sits them down and discusses what we used to call current affairs.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The whole affair ranged from poignant to embarrassing.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Then she got in touch with me again and our affair flared up all over again.
The Sun (2011)
This is the story of a love affair and its ending.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He had thought his father always involved with international business affairs.
Aldiss, Brian Somewhere East of Life (1994)
History matters in commercial affairs as much as it does in so many aspects of life.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Five years is too long to give any group of people free rein over the affairs of a country.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Having an affair is one thing, but this was a complete betrayal.
The Sun (2015)
The pair conducted a six-month affair that pretty much finished him off romantically.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Yes, it is an entirely personal affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
But neither of these Bank Holiday affairs fitted the weekday norm.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
affair
British English: affair /əˈfɛə/ NOUN
You refer to an event as an affair when you are talking about it in a general way.