affairette

English

Etymology

From affair +‎ -ette.

Noun

affairette (plural affairettes)

1. A brief romantic relationship, especially with someone who is in a relationship with another person, or not one's regular partner.

   Synonyms: dalliance, fling, liaison

   • 1976, David Edgar, Saigon Rose, Act II, Scene 4, in Plays: One, London: Methuen Drama, 1987, p. 215,^[1]

     It’s a poem, students learn, about the symptoms of syphilis. I once had an affairette with a final year medic from Inverness who used to mumble it all the time, often at the most inopportune moments.

   • 1978, Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City‎^[2], New York: Ballantine Books, published 1979, page 93:

     “ […] I thought I’d be snapped up in six months. At the very most!” […]
     “What about Robert?”
     “Affairettes don’t count.”

   • 1980 August 9, John D'Emilio, “There's No Place Like Home”, in Gay Community News, page 9:

     Occasionally I got out afterward to cruise. Occasionally someone does spend the night with me. Twice, I've even had very sweet "affairettes" with men who made their way to my home.

   • 2004, Erika Ritter, The Great Big Book of Guys,‎^[3], Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, page 5:

     Suddenly single at thirty, I floundered through those awful encounters, affairettes, and all-out affairs I’d tried to spare myself by marrying early and supposedly for good.