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unaffected

unaffected

1 4.8
Natural and sincere, without pretending
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnəˈfɛktɪd/
: natural
  • Use your natural voice, speaking simply in an unaffected way.

Examples

  • She seemed to me beautiful, wise, and unaffected.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Cool, unaffected, and real.

    Blog text (26)
  • What does it mean to be unaffected in the theater?

  • I kissed her, said, "Fair enough" in what I hope was an unaffected manner, and went off to take care of things myself.

    Blog text (20)
  • She's crazy and fun and unaffected by the world.

  • She was modest and unaffected, reserved but not cool.

    Academic text (2009)
  • He wondered at Doris's unaffected calm.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • She became, like them, unaffected, spontaneous, and open to carefree joy.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Cheerfully unaffected.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • She spoke in an unaffected manner, making everyone feel at ease.

Synonyms

unselfconscious
vsunaffected
1 7.0

Not worried about how you look and acting naturally with other people

focuses on sincere, intentional naturalness rather than mere lack of self-awareness
artless
vsunaffected
1 6.0

Simple and honest in a natural way, not pretending

highlights a natural, sincere manner free from pretence

Antonyms

273 3.6

Made by people rather than by nature, often as a copy of something natural

pretentious
  • Offensive
67 7.3

Trying to seem more important or clever than you really are

4 7.5

Not natural or sincere and done to impress others

How Natural

natural
426 1.0
genuine
140 3.2
unaffected
1 4.8
affected
4 7.5

Surface Forms

unaffected positive

Morphology

unaffected = affected (transparent) = un + affect + ed

Direct negation of the adjective 'affected' (pretentious/artificial), so learners who know that sense of 'affected' can derive 'unaffected' as 'natural/sincere'.

Etymology

Unaffected is made of un- 'not' plus affected, and in this use affected means 'showing a false manner' or 'trying to impress'. A helpful way to remember is that unaffected means 'not pretending', so it describes someone who is natural and sincere.