affair _noun

1-) events or activities

ADJECTIVES & NOUNS 

world, international, global
・Are you interested in international affairs?

current
・The BBC launched a 24-hour news and current affairs channel.

political, economic, military
・He was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for economic affairs.
・The military promised to stay out of political affairs.

foreign, external
・She is the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

domestic, internal, home 
・He said that the US should not try to interfere in his country’s domestic affairs. 

public
・In the past, women had little role in public affairs.

private
・He never discussed his private affairs in public.

financial, business
・They offer advice on managing your financial affairs.
・After my dad retired, I managed his estate and business affairs.

religious 
・Jones reports on religious affairs.

VERBS

interferein, meddle in
・China doesn’t want other countries meddling in its domestic affairs.

PHRASES

affairs of state
・The church played no role in the affairs of state.

put your affairs in order
・He knew he was dying and had limited time to put his affairs in order.

2-) something that happens

VERBS

deal with, handle
・The chairman was criticized for the way he handled the affair.

be involved in
・Several leading politicians were involved in the affair.

ADJECTIVES

private
・He felt that his marriage was a private affair and he didn’t want any press reporters there.

whole
・The whole affair has been very embarrassing for the government.

3-) a secret sexual relationship

ADJECTIVES & NOUNS

love
・The movie is about a love affair between a soldier and a beautiful young dancer.

secret
・She tried to hide their secret affair from her parents.

brief
・They had a brief affair when they were at university together.

extramarital
・The congressman admitted to having an extramarital affair.

illicit
・The president is alleged to have had an illicit affair with a Spanish model.

passionate, torrid
・Austin began a torrid affair with a girl half his age.

VERBS

have
・His wife was having an affair with someone at work.

begin
・They met at a party, and began an affair.

end
・John decided to end the affair when his wife found out.

PREPOSITIONS

with
・James began an affair with a neighbour.

between
・The book is the story of an affair between a man and his boss.