affection
uh-FEK-shuhn
/əˈfɛkʃən/
A gentle feeling of fondness or liking.
Warm and enduring, but less intense than passionate love. Can be felt for friends, family, or pets.
The story behind the word. From the Latin 'affectio', which meant a state of mind or body produced by an external influence. Over time, it evolved to mean being warmly influenced or 'disposed' toward someone.
Word relationships
- fondness: Fondness is a general liking, while affection is more actively warm and often expressed physically.
- antipathy: Antipathy is a deep-seated feeling of dislike or aversion.
Commonly confused with
- affectation: Affectation is behavior, speech, or writing that is artificial and designed to impress, whereas affection is genuine warmth.
Word family
- affectionate (adjective): Readily showing caring feelings.
- affectionately (adverb): In a way that shows fondness.
Collocations
- deep affection
- show affection
- win someone's affection
- mutual affection
Idioms & expressions
- gain someone's affections
Example sentences
- "He looked at his newborn nephew with pure affection, gently stroking his tiny forehead." Describing family dynamics
Memory hook
A warm 'affect' (expression) of love that 'affects' your heart. Warm affect
When not to use
Avoid when describing intense, volatile romantic passion.
Fun facts
- In Shakespeare's time, 'affection' could also mean a sudden illness or physical state, reflecting its root meaning of being 'affected' by something.
Related words
Explore more words
Also appears in
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.