affectation

/,æfek'teiʃn/

Thân thiện

She adopted an affectation of sophistication by holding her teacup with her pinky extended.

Definition

Noun: 1. A deliberate pretense or exaggerated display: An artificial behavior, mannerism, or speech intended to impress others or to create a specific image that is not genuine. It is a form of insincerity where someone adopts traits they do not naturally possess. 2. An unnatural or contrived quality: A specific instance of such behavior, often perceived as pretentious or ostentatious.

Examples of Usage

• Her upper-class accent was a complete affectation; she had grown up in a completely different region.
• He spoke with an affectation of worldly wisdom that failed to convince anyone who knew him well.
• The writer's simplicity was genuine and free from any literary affectation.
• Wearing that monocle is a ridiculous affectation.

Advanced Usage

• "An air of affectation": A general manner or appearance that seems artificial.
  • Despite his wealth, he spoke without any air of affectation.
• "To drop/lose the affectation": To stop behaving in an artificial way and become natural.
  • After a few drinks, she dropped her affectations and was much more relaxed.

Variants and Related Words

• Affect (verb): To put on a pretense of; to pretend to have or feel. Often used in formal or literary contexts.
  • He affected an interest in art to impress his date.
• Affected (adjective): Behaving in an artificial way to impress people; pretentious.
  • She had an affected way of speaking that annoyed her colleagues.
• Affectedly (adverb): In an artificial or pretentious manner.
  • He sighed affectedly to show his boredom.

Synonyms

• Pretense: An attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.
• Pose: A pretense or affectation, especially one adopted to impress.
• Mannerism: A habitual gesture or way of speaking, which can become an affectation if exaggerated or adopted artificially.
• Artificiality: The quality of being made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally; insincerity.

Antonyms

• Naturalness: The quality of being free from affectation or pretense.
• Genuineness: The quality of being truly what something is said to be; authenticity.
• Sincerity: The absence of pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.

Idioms and Related Phrases

• "To put on an affectation": To deliberately adopt an artificial manner.
  • He put on an affectation of sophistication when he went to the gallery.
• "Full of affectations": Describing a person whose behavior is consistently artificial or pretentious.
  • The character in the novel was full of affectations, making him hard to like.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display

Từ đồng nghĩa

• mannerism
• pose
• affectedness