the.com/affectation
Behavior worn for an audience, not because it fits.
means A manner, taste, or habit someone puts on to create a particular impression, rather than one that comes naturally to them.
from From Latin affectare, 'to strive after, aim at, aspire to' — itself a frequentative of afficere, 'to influence or do something to.' The sense drifted from ambitious striving to the artificial posturing that striving can produce: the word kept the reaching, but added the fakery. It entered English in the 1500s already carrying that whiff of trying too hard.
- tell
- only exists when someone is watching
- etymology
- from latin affectare, to strive after
- irony
- trying too hard to look effortless
- cousin
- confidence that forgot to be real