MEANING
1. To state confidently that something is true or remains valid.
2. To confirm a lower court's judgment on appeal.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- affirm a commitment
- affirm the findings
On the page
The second trial affirmed the original finding.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- affirm
- Past tense
- affirmed
- Past participle
- affirmed
- Present participle
- affirming
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- affirm
- Present continuous
- am/is/are affirming
- Present perfect
- have/has affirmed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been affirming
- Past
- affirmed
- Past continuous
- was/were affirming
- Past perfect
- had affirmed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been affirming
- Future
- will affirm
- Future continuous
- will be affirming
- Future perfect
- will have affirmed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been affirming
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: affirm; affirms; affirmed; affirmed; affirming Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: claim, evidence, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: affirms.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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