AFFIRM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does affirm mean? 

• AFFIRM (verb)
  The verb AFFIRM has 3 senses:

1. establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts

2. to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

3. say yes to

  Familiarity information: AFFIRM used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFFIRM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they affirm    ... he / she / it affirms   
Past simple: affirmed   
Past participle: affirmed   
-ing form: affirming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

affirm; confirm; corroborate; substantiate; support; sustain

Context example:

The evidence supports the defendant

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

back; back up (establish as valid or genuine)

vouch (give supporting evidence)

verify (confirm the truth of)

demonstrate; establish; prove; shew; show (establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment)

document (support or supply with references)

validate (prove valid; show or confirm the validity of something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Antonym:

negate (prove negative; show to be false)

Derivation:

affirmable (capable of being affirmed or asserted)

affirmation (a judgment by a higher court that the judgment of a lower court was correct and should stand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

affirm; assert; aver; avow; swan; swear; verify

Context example:

Before God I swear I am innocent

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

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

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

hold (assert or affirm)

claim; take (lay claim to; as of an idea)

attest (authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity)

declare (state firmly)

protest (affirm or avow formally or solemnly)

assure; tell (inform positively and with certainty and confidence)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They affirm that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

affirmation (a statement asserting the existence or the truth of something)

affirmation (the act of affirming or asserting or stating something)

affirmer (someone who claims to speak the truth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Say yes to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

claim (assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing)

reaffirm (affirm once again)

confirm; reassert (strengthen or make more firm)

defend; maintain (state or assert)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

affirmation (the act of affirming or asserting or stating something)

affirmative; affirmatory (affirming or giving assent)

 Context examples 

“Py jingo! I t’ink so mineself,” Hans affirmed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"With our own eyes we saw it," Bim affirmed.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This was in part confirmed by his aunt, who saw him at half past twelve o'clock, soon after his release, and affirmed that he was then as red as I was.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"You jes' bet they will," Bill affirmed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Where Miss Taylor failed to stimulate, I may safely affirm that Harriet Smith will do nothing.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"Don't lie," he commanded, and the nod of her head affirmed his charge.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

By placing the CE marking on a product, the manufacturer affirms that the product conforms with the requirements of the applicable European Community directives.

(CE Mark, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The sun does not more certainly shine in the heavens than that which I now affirm is true.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

For my own part, I may truly affirm, that I was less concerned than my nurse.

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

"It would do," I affirmed with some disdain, perfectly well.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)