affair

/əˈfɛə/

//əˈfɛə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"affair" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“affair” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,284. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,284
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.

Corpus desk

Index EN-affair · affair · English

affair · rank #4,284 · 6 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,284
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH agenda

Nearest frequency peer: agenda (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “affair”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “affair” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

affair vs affix
67% similar
affair vs afraid
67% similar
affair vs affirm
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for affair
PropertyValue
Headwordaffair
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈfɛə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,284
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “affair” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).affairlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “agenda” (#4,285), “viewed” (#4,282), “bat” (#4,286). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around affair (IPA /əˈfɛə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,284 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for affair, with forms such as "afafir", "afair", and "affairr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "affix", "afraid", "affirm", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English afere, affere, from Old French afaire, from a- + faire (“to do”), from Latin ad- + facere (“to do”). See fact, and compare ado. The correct English form is affair, spelled A-F-F-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.
  2. 2
    Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
  3. 3
    An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
  4. 4
    A material object (vaguely designated).
  5. 5
    An adulterous relationship, chiefly of a married person. (from affaire de cœur, affair of the heart).
  6. 6
    An otherwise illicit romantic relationship, such as with someone who is not one's regular partner (boyfriend, girlfriend).
  7. 7
    A person with whom someone has an adulterous relationship.
  8. 8
    A party or social gathering, especially of a formal nature.
  9. 9
    The (male or female) genitals.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how affair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. a difficult affair to manage
  2. Responsibility is my affair, reciprocity is his.

Etymology

From Middle English afere, affere, from Old French afaire, from a- + faire (“to do”), from Latin ad- + facere (“to do”). See fact, and compare ado.

This word in other languages

negocio(Español)aventure(Français)Angelegenheit(Deutsch)negócio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afafir
  • afair
  • affairr
  • affari
  • affiar
  • fafair

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of affair - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

afafir2afair1affairr1affari2affiar2fafair2
Edit distance from "affair"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "affair"?
"affair" is spelled A-F-F-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈfɛə/.
What does "affair" mean?
As a noun, "affair" means: Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.
What words are commonly confused with "affair"?
"affair" is commonly confused with "affix", "afraid", "affirm". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "affair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "affair" is /əˈfɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "affair"?
From Middle English afere, affere, from Old French afaire, from a- + faire (“to do”), from Latin ad- + facere (“to do”). See fact, and compare ado. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "affair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

agenda#4,285viewed#4,282triple#4,278treaty#4,277

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

slave6 variantsSaudi6 variantspiano6 variantsnuts6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "affair". Here's where to go from here.

  • "affair" maps to 5 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "affix". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,284 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list