Definition of "affect" in English

verb

1. (transitive) To influence or alter.

   • The experience affected me deeply.
   • The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction.

2. (transitive) To move to emotion.

   • He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play.

3. (transitive, pathology) Of an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).

   • Hepatitis affects the liver.

4. (transitive, archaic) To dispose or incline.

5. (transitive, archaic) To tend to by affinity or disposition.

6. (transitive, archaic) To assign; to appoint.

7. (transitive, Scots law) To burden (property) with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction.

verb

1. (transitive) To make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume. To make a false display of.

   • to affect ignorance
   • to affect a British accent
   • He managed to affect a smile despite feeling quite miserable.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To aim for, to try to obtain.

3. (transitive, rare) To feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To show a fondness for (something); to choose.

   • 1825, William Hazlitt, “On the Conduct of life: or Advice to a schoolboy” in Table-Talk Volume II, Paris: A. & W. Galignani, p. 284, Do not affect the society of your inferiors in rank, nor court that of the great.

noun

1. (psychology) A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.

2. (obsolete) One's mood or inclination; mental state.

3. (obsolete) A desire, an appetite.