French word

affairer

Pronunciation

IPA/afɛʁe/

Meaning

  • verbbustle about

Example

Il s'affaire dans la cuisine pour préparer le dîner.

He is bustling about in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Illustration for affairer (bustle about)

More examples

Elle s'affairer aux préparatifs de la fête.

She is keeping herself busy with the party preparations.

Core concept

Busy practical movement around several details that need attention before something is ready.

Common phrases

  • s'affairer à

    busy oneself with ___

  • s'affairer au travail

    keep oneself busy at work

  • s'affairer aux préparatifs

    keep oneself busy with the preparations

Similar words

se presser: Rushing to finish a task.
se dépêcher: Hurrying to carry out an action.

Definition in French

S'activer pour s'occuper de petites tâches ou de préparatifs, souvent employé sous la forme pronominale s'affairer.

Word origin

Affairer is a verb built from affaire, whose Old French form afaire combined a- with faire, followed by the verb suffix -er.

Usage tips

  • In the pronominal form, the reflexive pronoun changes with the subject, as in je m'affaire, nous nous affairons, and ils s'affairent.

Opposites

  • se reposerrestverb
  • traînerhang aroundverb

Related words

  • affairébusyadjective

Word lists with this word