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Definition of affect verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

affect

verb
 
/əˈfekt/
 
/əˈfekt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they affect
 
/əˈfekt/
 
/əˈfekt/
he / she / it affects
 
/əˈfekts/
 
/əˈfekts/
past simple affected
 
/əˈfektɪd/
 
/əˈfektɪd/
past participle affected
 
/əˈfektɪd/
 
/əˈfektɪd/
-ing form affecting
 
/əˈfektɪŋ/
 
/əˈfektɪŋ/
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  1. affect somebody/something to produce a change in somebody/something
    • How will these changes affect us?
    • The article deals with issues affecting the lives of children.
    • Thousands of people have been adversely affected (= affected in a negative way) by the decision.
    • The quality and health of the soil directly affects the quality and health of the plants.
    • Your opinion will not affect my decision.
    • The south of the country was worst affected by the drought.
    Which Word? affect / effectaffect / effect
    • affect = ‘to have an influence on somebody/​something’:
      • Does television affect children’s behaviour?
      It is not a noun.
    • effect noun = ‘result, influence’:
      • Does television have an effect on children’s behaviour?
    • effect verb is quite rare and formal and means ‘to achieve or produce’:
      • They hope to effect a reconciliation.
    Extra Examples
    • Hopefully this will not affect the outcome of the talks.
    • Sales did not seem unduly affected.
    • The class structure affects people's attitudes and behaviour.
    • decisions that affect all our lives
    • developments that are likely to affect the environment
    • Education has been severely affected by the war.
    • The type of audience will affect what you say and how you say it.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • dramatically
    • greatly
    • materially
    verb + affect
    • be likely to
    See full entry
  2. [often passive] affect somebody/something (of a disease) to attack somebody or a part of the body; to make somebody become ill
    • The disease is more likely to affect women than men.
    • The condition affects one in five women.
    • Rub the cream into the affected areas.
  3. affect somebody [often passive] to make somebody feel very sad, sorry, etc. about somebody/something
    • They were deeply affected by the news of her death.
    • Her death affected him deeply.
    • Try not to let his problems affect you too much.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • deeply
    • profoundly
    See full entry
  4. (formal) to pretend to be feeling or thinking something
    • affect something She affected a calmness she did not feel.
    • affect to do something We are fascinated by the rich and powerful but often affect to despise them.
  5. affect something (formal, disapproving) to use or wear something that is intended to impress other people synonym put something on
    • I wish he wouldn't affect that ridiculous accent.
  6. Word Originsenses 1 to 3 late Middle English (in the sense ‘attack as a disease’): from French affecter or Latin affect- ‘influenced, affected’, from the verb afficere ‘work on, influence’, from ad- ‘at, to’ + facere ‘do’.senses 4 to 5 late Middle English: from French affecter or Latin affectare ‘aim at’, frequentative of afficere ‘work on, influence’, from ad- ‘at, to’ + facere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘like, love’, hence ‘(like to) use, assume, etc.’.
See affect in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee affect in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
sufficiently
adverb
 
 
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