Tra từ affair - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

af·fair [affair affairs] BrE [əˈfeə(r)] NAmE [əˈfer] noun

PUBLIC/POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
1. affairsplural events that are of public interest or political importance
•world/international/business affairs
•an expert on foreign affairs (= political events in other countries)
•affairs of state
see also ↑current affairs

EVENT
2. countable, usually singular an event that people are talking about or describing in a particular way
• The newspapers exaggerated the whole affair wildly.
• The debate was a pretty disappointing affair.
•She wanted the celebration to be a simple family affair.

RELATIONSHIP
3. countable a sexual relationship between two people, usually when one or both of them is married to sb else
• She is having an affair with her boss.
• They had a passionate affair for six months.
see also ↑love affair

PRIVATE BUSINESS
4. affairsplural matters connected with a person's private business and financial situation
• I looked after my father's financial affairs.
• She wanted to put her affairs in order before she died.
5. singular a thing that sb is responsible for (and that other people should not be concerned with)
Syn: ↑business
•How I spend my money is my affair.

OBJECT
6. countable (old-fashioned) (with an adjective)an object that is unusual or difficult to describe
•Her hat was an amazing affair with feathers and a huge brim.
see a state of affairs at ↑state _n.

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old French afaire, from à faire ‘to do’; compare with ↑ado.

Thesaurus:
affair noun
1.
•current affairs
•The debate was a pretty disappointing affair.
event • • incident • • episode • • experience • • development • • business • • proceedings • • phenomenon • |formal occurrence • • eventuality •
the whole affair/event/incident/episode/experience/business/phenomenon/proceedings
a strange affair/event/incident/experience/development/business/phenomenon/occurrence
2.
•They had a passionate affair.
relationship • • love affair • • romance • • liaison •
a/an affair/relationship/love affair/romance/liaison with sb
a/an affair/relationship/love affair/romance/liaison between A and B
have a/an affair/relationship/love affair/romance/liaison
Affair or love affair? A love affair is usually more romantic than an affair and need not involve sex.

Example Bank:
•He has tried to play down his involvement in the affair.
•He's having an affair with a colleague.
•How did this state of affairs come about?
•How long has the affair been going on?
•I am trying to arrange my father's financial affairs.
•I knew that the wedding would be a grand affair.
•I want to put my affairs in order before I die.
•It's a family affair.
•It's the story of a secret affair between a married teacher and her teenage student.
•Many people have criticized the way the government handled the affair.
•She saw the whole affair as a great joke.
•She went back home to put her affairs in order before she died.
•That's no affair of yours.
•The Cabinet will be discussing certain affairs of state.
•What I do at home is my affair.
•a current affairs programme on television
•a torrid love affair
•an affair with a married man
•the current state of affairs in schools
•the minister for foreign affairs
•the newspaper article that exposed this whole sordid affair
•He believed in a strict separation of the affairs of state and those of the church.
•He's an expert on foreign affairs.
•I ended up disillusioned and bitter about the whole affair.
•She wanted the celebration to be a simple family affair.
•The Whitewater affair was the biggest scandal of the decade.
•The details of your relationship should be a private affair.
•The talk ranged over a variety of topics, from sport to current affairs.
•Their affair did not develop into a lasting relationship.
•world/international/business affairs