noun
- an effort to appear to have a quality not really or fully possessed; the pretense of actual possession: an affectation of interest in art; affectation of great wealth.
- conspicuous artificiality of manner or appearance; effort to attract notice by pretense, assumption, or any assumed peculiarity.
- a trait, action, or expression characterized by such artificiality: a man of a thousand affectations.
- Obsolete.
- strenuous pursuit, desire, or aspiration.
- affection; fondness: his affectation of literature.
noun
- an assumed manner of speech, dress, or behaviour, esp one that is intended to impress others
- (often foll by of) deliberate pretence or false displayaffectation of nobility
“studied display,” 1540s, from French affectation (16c.) or directly from Latin affectationem (nominative affectatio) “a striving after, a claiming,” noun of action from past participle stem of affectare “to strive for” (see affect (v.2)).