affective
adjective
af·fec·tive a-ˈfek-tiv 
1
: relating to, arising from, or influencing feelings or emotions : emotional
cognitive and affective symptoms
the novel's affective death scene
2
: expressing emotion
affective language
behaviors that elicit affective reactions
affectively adverb
affectivity
ˌa-ˌfek-ˈti-və-tē
noun 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web There is an ineluctable emotional stamp on the incipit of just about all of Brahms’ mature chamber works — the opening seconds set an affective tone that can last the entire piece. 
Lukas Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2022 Physical pain has two basic parts: the sensory component (the physical sensation) and the affective component (the perception of unpleasantness). Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2022 In this postwar landscape, Roberts suggests, citizenship may not have mattered as much as belonging—affective ties to community, family, and geography. Philip Deloria, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022 This position is airily remote from the affective texture of moral life, from the motivating complex of sentiments — whether admiration or abhorrence — that certain actions can produce. New York Times, 28 June 2022 Gradually, though, the music reveals affective echoes of the introduction, but these clarifying connections need to be nudged to the forefront, and Francis and all-stars were able to set the dramatic details of the first movement into relief. Lukas Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2022 According to the 7-38-55 rule of personal communication, words influence only 7% of our perception of the affective state. Cindy Gordon, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2021 Such sweeping, affective observations are key to Fukuyama’s style, which spurns data-heavy economics in favor of lofty arguments on the plane of ideas. Krithika Varagur, The New Yorker, 25 May 2022 The degree to which people experience a range of negative affective states, including anxiety and anger, is partially genetic, Gross added. Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2022 See More
Lukas Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2022 Physical pain has two basic parts: the sensory component (the physical sensation) and the affective component (the perception of unpleasantness). Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2022 In this postwar landscape, Roberts suggests, citizenship may not have mattered as much as belonging—affective ties to community, family, and geography. Philip Deloria, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022 This position is airily remote from the affective texture of moral life, from the motivating complex of sentiments — whether admiration or abhorrence — that certain actions can produce. New York Times, 28 June 2022 Gradually, though, the music reveals affective echoes of the introduction, but these clarifying connections need to be nudged to the forefront, and Francis and all-stars were able to set the dramatic details of the first movement into relief. Lukas Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2022 According to the 7-38-55 rule of personal communication, words influence only 7% of our perception of the affective state. Cindy Gordon, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2021 Such sweeping, affective observations are key to Fukuyama’s style, which spurns data-heavy economics in favor of lofty arguments on the plane of ideas. Krithika Varagur, The New Yorker, 25 May 2022 The degree to which people experience a range of negative affective states, including anxiety and anger, is partially genetic, Gross added. Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English affectif, borrowed from Middle French, borrowed from Late Latin affectīvus, from Latin affectus, past participle of afficere "to produce an effect on, exert an influence on" + -īvus -ive — more at affect entry 1
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing affective
Medical Definition
affective
adjective
af·fec·tive a-ˈfek-tiv
: relating to, arising from, or influencing feelings or emotions : emotional
affective symptoms