affectverb [ T ]
uk/əˈfekt/us/əˈfekt/affect verb [ T ] (INFLUENCE)
B2 to have an influence on someone or something, or to cause a change in someone or something:
Both buildings were badly affected by the fire.
The divorce affected every aspect of her life.
It's a disease that affects mainly older people.
I was deeply affected by the film (= it caused strong feelings in me).
More examples
- The new rates will affect all consumers including businesses.
- Researchers are looking at how a mother's health can affect the baby in the womb.
- His illness affects almost every aspect of his life.
- Farmers and market gardeners have been badly affected by the drought.
- You couldn't fail to be affected by the film.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Affecting and influencing
- across-the-board
- act
- applicability
- be/fall under sb's influence/spell idiom
- bear on sth
- carry sth over
- cross
- force
- inspiration
- instrumental
- jerk
- lead 1
- leave your/its mark on sb/sth idiom
- major league
- reverberate
- thing
- turn sb's head idiom
- unlock
- warp
- work against/for sb
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affect verb [ T ] (PRETEND)
formal to pretend to feel or think something:
To all his problems she affected indifference.
formal mainly disapproving to start to wear or do something in order to make people admire or respect you:
At university he affected an upper-class accent.
He's recently affected a hat and cane.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Faking & pretending
- a wolf in sheep's clothing idiom
- assume
- believe
- bluff
- changeling
- charlatan
- come the raw prawn idiom
- feign
- fraud
- go through the motions idiom
- guise
- impostor
- play at sth
- play possum idiom
- play sth out
- play-acting
- pose as sb
- professed
- purport
- quack
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