If you say that someone's attitude or behaviour is an affectation, you disapprove of the fact that it is not genuine or natural, but is intended to impress other people.
[disapproval]
I wore sunglasses all the time and people thought it was an affectation.
Lawson writes so well: in plain English, without fuss or affectation.
Synonyms: pretence, show, posing, posturing More Synonyms of affectation
affectation in British English
(ˌæfɛkˈteɪʃən)
noun
1.
an assumed manner of speech, dress, or behaviour, esp one that is intended to impress others
2. (often foll by of)
deliberate pretence or false display
affectation of nobility
Word origin
C16: from Latin affectātiōn- an aiming at, striving after, from affectāre; see affect2
affectation in American English
(ˌæfɛkˈteɪʃən; ˌæfɪkˈteɪʃən)
noun
1.
an affecting or pretending to like, have, etc.; show or pretense
2.
artificial behavior meant to impress others; mannerism for effect
SIMILAR WORDS: pose
Word origin
L affectatio < pp. of affectare, affect2
Examples of 'affectation' in a sentence
affectation
Why carry such a ridiculous affectation?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This was no mere affectation.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Too many of their 20th-century predecessors saw opera as a bourgeois affectation, too superficial for their aesthetic philosophy.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
(noun)
Definition
an attitude or manner put on to impress others
She writes well, without fuss or affectation.
Synonyms
pretence
She was completely without guile or pretence.
show
We need to make a show of acknowledging their expertise.
posing
posturing
act
His anger was real. It wasn't just an act.
display
appearance
They gave the appearance of being on both sides.
pose
In many writers modesty is a pose, but in him it seems to be genuine.
façade
At work they hid their dislike of each other behind a façade of cheerfulness.
simulation
sham
pretension
We liked him for his honesty and lack of pretension.
veneer
He was able to fool people with his veneer of intellectuality.
artifice
mannerism
insincerity
pretentiousness
hokum (slang, mainly US, Canadian)
artificiality
fakery
affectedness
assumed manners
false display
unnatural imitation
Additional synonyms
in the sense of act
Definition
a pretended attitude
His anger was real. It wasn't just an act.
Synonyms
pretence,
show,
front,
performance,
display,
attitude,
pose,
stance,
fake,
posture,
façade,
sham,
veneer,
counterfeit,
feigning,
affectation,
dissimulation
in the sense of appearance
They gave the appearance of being on both sides.
Synonyms
impression,
air,
front,
image,
illusion,
guise,
façade,
pretence,
veneer,
semblance,
outward show
in the sense of façade
At work they hid their dislike of each other behind a façade of cheerfulness.