Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

state of affairs

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.64 in modern English

Syllables: state of af-fairs
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A specific situation; a set of circumstances.

Example Sentences

"His uncooperative attitude creates a difficult state of affairs for all of us."
"Now this doubtness is an unhappy state of affairs to the lover of the steam locomotive, but we cannot, like the proverbial ostrich, bury our heads in the sand and refuse to face facts."
"An independent oversight body is just setting up, but at full strength it will have a core team of just five. This is a state of affairs that cossets and enriches bailiffs at the expense of families who’ve fallen into debt."

Inflected Forms

states of affairs (plural)

Synonyms

situation

Questions

What does state of affairs mean?: A specific situation; a set of circumstances.

How to pronounce state of affairs

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “state of affairs”.
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