A person who affects, pretends, or adopts artificial manners or feelings.
From 'affectation' (artificial pretense) + '-ist' (one who practices). 'Affectation' comes from Latin 'affectatio' (pretense, striving). The '-ist' suffix marks someone characterized by this behavior.
An 'affectationist' is basically a professional faker—someone so committed to pretending that it becomes their defining characteristic! Victorian critics loved this word for describing hypocrites and social climbers.
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