- affair
- noun1 event/situationADJECTIVE▪ whole▪
She saw the whole affair as a great joke.
▪ glittering, grand▪I knew that the wedding would be a grand affair.
▪ intimate, low-key, simple▪ community, local▪ messy, sad, sordid, sorry (esp. BrE), squalid (esp. BrE)▪the newspaper article that exposed this whole sordid affair
VERB + AFFAIR▪ deal with, handle▪Many people have criticized the way the government handled the affair.
▪ be involved in▪ investigatePHRASES▪ sb's involvement in the affair▪He has tried to play down his involvement in the affair.
▪ a state of affairs▪How did this state of affairs come about?
▪ wash your hands of the affair (= to refuse to be responsible for sth or involved in sth)2 sexual relationshipADJECTIVE▪ brief, casual▪ clandestine, illicit, secret▪ adulterous, extramarital▪He had an extramarital affair with his secretary.
▪ passionate, steamy, torrid▪ scandalous▪ unhappy▪ love, romantic, sexual▪a torrid love affair
▪ gay, homosexual, lesbian▪ allegedVERB + AFFAIR▪ carry on, conduct, have▪He's having an affair with a colleague.
▪ cover up, deny▪ exposeAFFAIR + VERB▪ go on▪How long has the affair been going on?
PREPOSITION▪ affair between▪It's the story of a secret affair between a married teacher and her teenage student.
▪ affair with▪an affair with a married man
3 sth that concerns one person/small groupADJECTIVE▪ family, sb's own, personal, private▪It's a family affair.
VERB + AFFAIR▪ interfere in, meddle inPHRASES▪ sb's affair▪What I do at home is my affair.
▪ no affair of sb's▪That's no affair of yours.
4 affairs important mattersADJECTIVE▪ current▪a current-affairs magazine
▪ public▪ human▪ domestic, home, internal, national▪ civic, community, local▪ external, foreign, global, international, world▪the minister for foreign affairs
▪ business, financial, legal▪ commercial, consumer, cultural, economic, environmental, military, political, religious, socialVERB + AFFAIRS▪ administer, arrange, attend to, conduct, manage, run▪I am trying to arrange my father's financial affairs.
▪ get in order, put in order, set in order, settle, wind up▪She went back home to put her affairs in order before she died.
PHRASES▪ affairs of state▪The Cabinet will be discussing certain affairs of state.
▪ a state of affairs▪the current state of affairs in schools
Collocations dictionary. 2013.