affair Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a vaguely specified concern
    matter; thing.
    • several matters to attend to
    • it is none of your affair
    • things are going well
  2. noun a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
    liaison; involvement; affaire; amour; intimacy.
  3. noun a vaguely specified social event
    function; social occasion; social function; occasion.
    • the party was quite an affair
    • an occasion arranged to honor the president
    • a seemingly endless round of social functions

WordNet

Af*fair" noun
Etymology
OE. afere, affere, OF. afaire, F. affaire, fr. a faire to do; L.. ad + facere to do. See Fact, and cf. Ado.
Definitions
  1. That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; as, a difficult affair to manage; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; -- often in the plural.
    "At the head of affairs." Junius.
    "A talent for affairs." Prescott
    .
  2. Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely; as, an affair of honor, i. e., a duel; an affair of love, i. e., an intrigue.
  3. (Mil.) An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
  4. Action; endeavor. Obs.
    And with his best affair Obeyed the pleasure of the Sun. Chapman.
  5. A material object (vaguely designated).
    A certain affair of fine red cloth much worn and faded. Hawthorne.

Webster 1913