AFFECT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does affect mean? 

• AFFECT (noun)
  The noun AFFECT has 1 sense:

1. the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion

  Familiarity information: AFFECT used as a noun is very rare.

• AFFECT (verb)
  The verb AFFECT has 5 senses:

1. have an effect upon

2. act physically on; have an effect upon

3. connect closely and often incriminatingly

4. make believe with the intent to deceive

5. have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

  Familiarity information: AFFECT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFFECT (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)

• AFFECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they affect    ... he / she / it affects   
Past simple: affected   
Past participle: affected   
-ing form: affecting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have an effect upon

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

Will the new rules affect me?

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"):

redound (have an effect for good or ill)

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)

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 2

Meaning:

Act physically on; have an effect upon

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

the medicine affects my heart rate

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"):

ulcerate (affect with an ulcer)

attack (begin to injure)

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)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Connect closely and often incriminatingly

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

affect; involve; regard

Context example:

This new ruling affects your business

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make believe with the intent to deceive

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

affect; dissemble; feign; pretend; sham

Context example:

He shammed a headache

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"):

play possum (to pretend to be dead)

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

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

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

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

affect; impress; move; strike

Context example:

her comments struck a sour note

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"):

smite (affect suddenly with deep feeling)

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)

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)

 Context examples 

Now let’s turn to a big, emerging trend that will affect you not only in December but throughout 2020, thanks to the arrival of Jupiter into Capricorn for 12 months from December 2, 2019, to December 19, 2020.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

These people are under continual disquietudes, never enjoying a minute’s peace of mind; and their disturbances proceed from causes which very little affect the rest of mortals.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Since cancer can take many years to develop, it’s difficult to prove whether eating chocolate can affect disease.

(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Disturbances affecting the neurotransmitter dopamine are associated with a host of mental and neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease.

(Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI identified as a potential biomarker for psychosis, National Institutes of Health)

Gum disease is an infection affecting the tissue that holds your teeth in the right place.

(New Link Found between Alzheimer's & Gum Disease Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

While a plant-based diet is generally considered healthier than a meat-based diet in preventing the risk of diabetes, not all meats affect the risk equally.

(Eating Meat Linked to Higher Risk of Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Iceland specialises in this type of eruption – the last example occurred in 2015, and it affected air quality 1400 kilometres away in Ireland.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)

Activity on the sun, known as space weather, can affect systems on Earth.

(Newest solar telescope produces first images, National Science Foundation)

Climate change affects the hydrological regime in the Amazon, which affects fish reproduction and production of stocks in the floodplains.

(Amazon fish ‘face new threats’, SciDev.Net)

People with poor social support may have worse health outcomes because they have unhealthier lifestyles, are less compliant with treatment, and are more affected by stressful events.

(Loneliness Is Bad for Heart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)