affect

affect is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

affect

affect is part of the Academic Word List. It is important for students in college and university.

[change] Verb

Plain form
affect

Third-person singular
affects

Past tense
affected

Past participle
affected

Present participle
affecting

(transitive) If $x$ affects $y$ , then $x$ causes a change in $y$ .

The movement of the soccer ball was affected by the wind.

Sigmund Freud's ideas were affected by the writings of Frederick Nietzsche.

How do you think the new government will affect the economy?
(transitive) If you affect a way of speaking, walking, dressing, etc., you pretend that it is your normal way, often to impress people.

"No, ma'm," Robert said, affecting a southern accent.