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moving or exciting the feelings or emotions.
to act on; produce an effect or change in:
Cold weather affected the crops.
to impress the mind or move the feelings of:
The music affected him deeply.
(of pain, disease, etc.) to attack or lay hold of.
Psychology. feeling or emotion.
Psychiatry. an expressed or observed emotional response:
Restricted, flat, or blunted affect may be a symptom of mental illness, especially schizophrenia.
Obsolete, ; passion; sensation; inclination; inward disposition or feeling.
to give the appearance of; pretend or feign:
to affect knowledge of the situation.
to assume artificially, pretentiously, or for effect:
to affect a Southern accent.
to use, wear, or adopt by preference; choose; prefer:
the peculiar costume he affected.
to assume the character or attitude of:
to affect the freethinker.
(of things) to tend toward habitually or naturally:
a substance that affects colloidal form.
(of animals and plants) to occupy or inhabit; live in or on:
Lions affect Africa. Moss affects the northern slopes.
Archaic.

to have for; fancy.
to aim at; aspire to.

Obsolete. to incline, tend, or favor (usually followed by to):
He affects to the old ways.
Contemporary Examples

Sometimes he dons a ranger hat, which is about as imaginative as cowboy boots for affecting a down-home cool.
Herman Cain’s Power Suit Robin Givhan November 3, 2011

This is among the best and most affecting novels of the year, an astonishing miss by the book editors at The New York Times.
Great Fiction Missed by The New York Times Taylor Antrim December 14, 2011

SCOTUS’ landmark same-sex marriage decisions Wednesday are affecting more than just gay couples.
5 Celebs Who Vowed Not to Marry Until Same-Sex Marriage Was Legal Abby Haglage June 25, 2013

He used to be really concerned about how violence was affecting Carl, is that still on his mind?
‘The Walking Dead’ Star Andrew Lincoln on the Terminus Cannibals Theory & Season Finale Melissa Leon March 30, 2014

Perhaps most affecting is Alex Hopkins, a shy 14-year-old from Sioux City, Iowa.
The Bully Project Director Talks About Documenting Bullying in American Schools Louis Jordan April 29, 2011

Historical Examples

There is evidently a grand mathematical principle directing all nature, and affecting everything produced.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 6 (of 10) Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

Either an influence was affecting the child from within or an influence was affecting her from without.
The Blue Wall Richard Washburn Child

The quantity of money would be absolutely irrelevant as affecting its value.
The Value of Money Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.

“You will see,” said La Croix, affecting mystery; he knew no more than the other.
White Lies Charles Reade

Was it the fearful malarial heat of the low-lying forest country, often swampy, which was affecting her?
The Sign of the Spider Bertram Mitford

adjective
evoking feelings of pity, sympathy, or pathos; moving
verb (transitive) (əˈfɛkt)
to act upon or influence, esp in an adverse way: damp affected the sparking plugs
to move or disturb emotionally or mentally: her death affected him greatly
(of pain, disease, etc) to attack
noun (ˈæfɛkt; əˈfɛkt)
(psychol) the emotion associated with an idea or set of ideas See also affection
verb (mainly transitive)
to put on an appearance or show of; make a pretence of: to affect ignorance
to imitate or assume, esp pretentiously: to affect an accent
to have or use by preference: she always affects funereal clothing
to adopt the character, manner, etc, of: he was always affecting the politician
(of plants or animals) to live or grow in: penguins affect an arctic climate
to incline naturally or habitually towards: falling drops of liquid affect roundness
n.

late 14c., “mental state,” from Latin noun use of affectus “furnished, supplied, endowed,” figuratively “disposed, constituted, inclined,” past participle of afficere “to do; treat, use, manage, handle; act on; have influence on, do something to,” a verb of broad meaning, from ad- “to” (see ad-) + facere (past participle factus) “do” (see factitious). Perhaps obsolete except in psychology. Related: Affects.
v.

“to make an impression on,” 1630s; earlier “to attack” (c.1600), “act upon, infect” (early 15c.), from affect (n.). Related: Affected; affecting.

“to make a pretense of,” 1660s, earlier “to assume the character of (someone)” (1590s); originally in English “to aim at, aspire to, desire” (early 15c.), from Middle French affecter (15c.), from Latin affectare “to strive after, aim at,” frequentative of afficere (past participle affectus) “to do something to, act on” (see affect (n.)). Related: Affected; affecting.

affect af·fect (ə-fěkt’)
v. af·fect·ed, af·fect·ing, af·fects

To have an influence on or affect a change in.

To attack or infect, as a disease.

n. (āf’ěkt’)

A feeling or emotion as distinguished from thought, or action.

A strong feeling with active consequences.