affaire
French, noun
affaire is spelled A-F-F-A-I-R-E (7 letters) and appears 155 times per million words in written French, the 528th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Affaire is a French feminine noun meaning “business; matter; affair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, affairé is a different word: “busy”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Chose dont on doit s’occuper à faire”.
What does affaire mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininebusiness; matter; affair
affaire importante
- 2
femininedeal, transaction, bargain
conclure une affaire
- 3
femininebusiness, enterprise
monter une affaire
- 4
feminineaffair, scandal
l'affaire Dreyfus
- 5
femininecase, trial
L'affaire O.J. Simpson fut une des plus médiatisées.
- 6
feminineinformalthings; stuff
- 7
feminineinformalbelonging (something physical that is owned)
- 8
Quebecfeminineinformalthingamajig
adjective
- 1
busy
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Chose dont on doit s’occuper à faire. 2. Ce qui est le sujet de quelque occupation. 3. Ce qui est sujet de quelques préoccupations. 4. Engagement au front ; combat.
adjective: 1. Qui a bien des affaires, qui est occupé.
noun: 1. Personne très occupée. 2. Personne qui aime se mêler de ce qui ne la regarde pas.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of affaire
- affaires plural
- affairée feminine
- affairés masculine plural
- affairées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to affaire
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is affaire in French?
affaire appears 155 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).