affectation
/afɛkˈteɪʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1Behaviour, speech, or writing that is pretentious and designed to impress: the affectation of a man who measures every word for effect [count noun]: she called the room her boudoir, which he thought an affectation...
- Donald's love of sport was not some kind of affectation designed to bring him street credibility in constituency walkabouts.
- Ri smiled and decided to drop her officious speech affectation.
- Each of the performers is distinctive because of his or her unique appearance or affectation.
Synonyms
pretension, pretentiousness, affectedness, artificiality, insincerity, posturing, posing, pretence, ostentation, grandiosity, snobbery, superciliousness;
airs, airs and graces, pretensions
informal snootiness, uppishness, humbug
British informal side
1.1 [count noun] A studied display of real or pretended feeling: an affectation of calm...
- On a record composed of cinematic affectations, how much of the feeling is real?
- Ironic postures, become her target every bit as much as sentimental affectations of feeling.
- But in the end, their gluttony, loneliness, and affectations - their rabid humanity is what interests me.
Synonyms
facade, front, show, appearance, false display, pretence, simulation, posture, pose, sham, fake, act, masquerade, charade, mask, cloak, veil, veneer, guise;
make-believe, play-acting, feigning, shamming
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Latin affectatio(n-), from the verb affectare (see affect2).