affectation (noun) - an assumed or artificial manner of behavior, speech, or style usually intended to impress others; pretension [af-ek-tey-shuhn]
BREAKDOWN: AF- (to) + FECT- (to make or do) + -ATION (process of)
affected means simulated or assumed artificially; influenced; impaired
See also: confection, discomfiture, surfeit, COMMONLY CONFUSED: Affect vs. Effect
“Affectation proceeds from one of these two causes,--vanity or hypocrisy; for as vanity puts us on affecting false characters, in order to purchase applause; so hypocrisy sets us on an endeavor to avoid censure, by concealing our vices under an appearance of their opposite virtues.” —Henry Fielding
