Library / English Dictionary

AFFECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("affect" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Derivation:

affect (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

affectional (characterized by emotion)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Act physically on; have an effect upon

Example:

the medicine affects my heart rate

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "affect" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "affect"):

inebriate; intoxicate; soak (make drunk (with alcoholic drinks))

register (enter into someone's consciousness)

jaundice (affect with, or as if with, jaundice)

cramp (affect with or as if with a cramp)

loosen up; make relaxed; relax; unlax; unstrain; unwind (cause to feel relaxed)

strain; tense; tense up (cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious)

arouse; brace; energise; energize; perk up; stimulate (cause to be alert and energetic)

calm; sedate; tranquilize; tranquillise; tranquillize (cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to)

ulcerate (affect with an ulcer)

attack (begin to injure)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have an effect upon

Example:

Will the new rules affect me?

Synonyms:

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "affect" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "affect"):

slam-dunk (make a forceful move against)

act upon; influence; work (have and exert influence or effect)

bother; discommode; disoblige; incommode; inconvenience; put out; trouble (to cause inconvenience or discomfort to)

subject (cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to)

hit; strike (affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely)

endanger; expose; peril; queer; scupper (put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position)

color; colour; distort; tinge (affect as in thought or feeling)

hydrolise; hydrolize (make a compound react with water and undergo hydrolysis)

process; treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition)

excite; stimulate (act as a stimulant)

redound (have an effect for good or ill)

tell on (produce an effect or strain on somebody)

repercuss (cause repercussions; have an unwanted effect)

strike a blow (affect adversely)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make believe with the intent to deceive

Example:

He shammed a headache

Synonyms:

affect; dissemble; feign; pretend; sham

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "affect" is one way to...):

belie; misrepresent (represent falsely)

Verb group:

make; make believe; pretend (represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "affect"):

mouth (articulate silently; form words with the lips only)

bull; bullshit; fake; talk through one's hat (speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths)

take a dive (pretend to be knocked out, as of a boxer)

play possum (to pretend to be dead)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sense 4

Meaning:

Have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

Example:

her comments struck a sour note

Synonyms:

affect; impress; move; strike

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Cause:

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Verb group:

actuate; incite; motivate; move; prompt; propel (give an incentive for action)

come to; hit; strike (cause to experience suddenly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "affect"):

alienate (make withdrawn or isolated or emotionally dissociated)

sadden (make unhappy)

move (arouse sympathy or compassion in)

stir; touch (affect emotionally)

disturb; trouble; upset (move deeply)

sweep away; sweep off (overwhelm emotionally)

impress (impress positively)

pierce (move or affect (a person's emotions or bodily feelings) deeply or sharply)

cloud (make gloomy or depressed)

smite (affect suddenly with deep feeling)

hit home; strike a chord; strike a note; strike home (refer to or be relevant or familiar to)

jar (affect in a disagreeable way)

zap (strike suddenly and with force)

strike dumb (render speechless, as by surprising or shocking)

engrave (impress or affect deeply)

awaken (make aware)

impress; ingrain; instill (produce or try to produce a vivid impression of)

surprise (cause to be surprised)

infect (affect in a contagious way)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will affect him

The good news will affect her

Derivation:

affect (the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion)

affective (characterized by emotion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Connect closely and often incriminatingly

Example:

This new ruling affects your business

Synonyms:

affect; involve; regard

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "affect" is one way to...):

bear on; come to; concern; have to do with; pertain; refer; relate; touch; touch on (be relevant to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "affect"):

implicate (bring into intimate and incriminating connection)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Lastly, the researchers asked participants to view a video of a rejection in action, to assess if feelings of forgiveness can be affected.

(Sometimes You Shouldn't Say Sorry, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Sudden large-scale changes in plant populations, such as the tree die-offs observed worldwide in recent decades, could affect the rate at which climate changes.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

The researchers are conducting further work to understand how omega-3s and other fatty acids in the diet might affect the risk of developing diabetes, obesity, cancers, and other conditions.

(Omega-3s linked with lower risk of fatal heart attacks, NIH)

Although astronomers cannot see dark matter, they can detect its presence indirectly by measuring how its gravity affects stars and galaxies.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

“Dead zones,” also called hypoxia areas, are caused by nutrient runoff from agricultural and other human activities in the watershed and are highly affected by river discharge and nitrogen loads.

(2015 Gulf of Mexico dead zone ‘above average’, NOAA)

Working with ‘Eve’, the research team discovered that in fact, triclosan affects parasite growth by specifically inhibiting an entirely different enzyme of the malaria parasite, called DHFR.

(Toothpaste ingredient may help fight drug-resistant malaria, University of Cambridge)

Atrial fibrillation affects more than 33 million people worldwide, with one in four adults likely to develop it at some point during the life course.

(Eat Chocolate for Steady Heartbea, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"Honey bees are strongly affected by the quality of their environment, including flower diversity, contaminants and pests....Honey bee health is a community matter."

(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)

The episode did not affect him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The bulkhead was too thick for us to hear what he said; but whatever it was it affected the hunters strongly, for the cheering was followed by loud exclamations and shouts of joy.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)