affectation
/ˌæf.ɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/
affectation means an attempt to assume or exhibit what is not natural or real; false display; artificial show. It carries an Arena rating of 1545, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, affectation ranks #1,149 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,877 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #3,914 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,438 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
affectation is pronounced /ˌæf.ɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/.
Why “affectation” is a great word
A strained or artificial mannerism adopted for effect, a calculated performance of the self. From Middle French affectation, borrowed from Latin affectātiōn-, affectātiō ('a striving after, an aiming at'), from affectātus, past participle of affectāre ('to strive after, feign'). Unlike affection, which signals a genuine warmth of feeling, or sincerity, which is an unadorned alignment of word and intent, affectation is the conscious labor to appear as something one is not. It is the over-precise pronunciation of a newly-learned foreign phrase, the carefully careless drape of a scarf, the theatrical sigh emitted for an audience—the faint, sad noise of a soul practicing its scales in an empty room.
Etymology
From Middle French affectation and its etymon Latin affectātiōnem, from affectō (“to feign”). By surface analysis, affect + -ation.
noun
- An attempt to assume or exhibit what is not natural or real; false display; artificial show.e.g.“This poem is strongly tinctured with those pedantic affectations concerning the passion of love ...” — 1810, Dr. Samuel Johnson, “Life of Gower”, in The Works of the English Poets, Digitized edition, published 2009:
- An unusual mannerism.
- An ostentatious fondness for something.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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