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Affectation comes from one of the most common and versatile Latin roots: facere, meaning "to make or to do." Facere also gave us the words fact, factory, effect, affect, and oodles of others, including fac___, meaning "easily done" or "quick and skilled." Can you recall it?
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"AFFECTATION"
One meaning of "to affect" is "to fake something, to pretend something." So, an affectation is a pretense, or in other words, a false display of something.
Pronunciation:
AFF eck TAY shun
Part of speech:
Usually a countable noun.
(Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions."
Likewise, talk about one affectation or multiple affectations.)
Other forms:
affectations, affect, affected, affecting, affectedly, affectedness
How to use it:
Talk about a person's affectations, or the affectations of someone: "her affectations are wearing thin," "the affectations of this desperate candidate," "he's well-read but completely free from affectations."
You can say that a statement, a behavior, or an emotion is an affectation ("their concern was an affectation," "their interest is a mere affectation"), and often we'll add the word of to specify what the affectation is: an affectation of concern or interest, their affectation of wealth or power, this affectation of education, her polite affectation of never having heard that joke before.
Even though "affectation" is usually a countable noun, as in "her affectations are so nervy," you can also use it as an uncountable noun, as in "her devotion to the task is deep and without affectation."
examples:
If his calm ease while speaking in front of the crowd was an affectation, I couldn't tell.
She'd replaced every instance of the word "me" with the word "myself," an affectation that gave me shudders.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "affectation" means when you can explain it without saying "a thing that you're just faking" or "an exaggerated display of a false quality."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "At the age of _____, I figured I could impress (someone) with my affectation of _____."
Example: "At the age of fifteen, I figured I could impress my classmates with my affectation of world-weariness."
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing with lines of poetry that include words we've checked out together in previous issues. I’ll give you a few lines from the poem, with a blank where our word appears, along with its definition. See if you can come up with it. Each answer will appear in the next day's issue. Enjoy!
From the previous issue:
From A. E. Stallings's poem "Sublunary:"
"Mid-sentence, we remembered the eclipse,
Arguing home through our _____ patch of park
Still warm with barrel wine."
Definition: very limited or barely enough. (Hints: one syllable, five letters, starts with S.)
Answer: scant.
Try this today:
From Maya Angelou's poem "A Plagued Journey:"
"My mind, formerly _________
in its snug encasement, is strained
to look upon their rapturous visages,
to let them enter even into me."
Definition: inactive, still, and quiet. (Hints: three syllables, starts with Q, rhymes with "florescent.")
review today's word:
1. The closest opposite of AFFECTATION is
A. DESTRUCTION
B. SIMULATION
C. SINCERITY
2. The _____ required for the role remained a hard-to-shed affectation, long after filming was complete.
A. precise, studied accent
B. rigorous weight-lifting routine
C. fascinating knowledge of ancient China
Answers are below.
a final word:
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. A
Affectation comes from one of the most common and versatile Latin roots: facere, meaning "to make or to do." Facere also gave us the words fact, factory, effect, affect, and oodles of others, including fac___, meaning "easily done" or "quick and skilled." Can you recall it?
"AFFECTATION" One meaning of "to affect" is "to fake something, to pretend something." So, an affectation is a pretense, or in other words, a false display of something. Part of speech:
If his calm ease while speaking in front of the crowd was an affectation, I couldn't tell.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "affectation" means when you can explain it without saying "a thing that you're just faking" or "an exaggerated display of a false quality."
Fill in the blanks: "At the age of _____, I figured I could impress (someone) with my affectation of _____."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The closest opposite of AFFECTATION is
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
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