different between affectedly vs knack

English

Etymology

affected +? -ly

Adverb

affectedly (comparative more affectedly, superlative most affectedly)

1. In an affected manner; hypocritically; with more show than reality.
   • 1614, Thomas Lodge (translator), The Workes of Lucius Annæus Seneca, London: William Stansby, Epistles to Lucilius, Epist. 115, p. 463,^[1]

     The speech is the Image of the minde: if a man mince it, disguise and polish it ouer curiously, it is a signe that he which speaketh it, is an hypocrite, and little worth. It is no manly ornament to speake affectedly.

   • 1776, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Liberal Opinions, London: G. Robinson & J. Bew, Volume 4, Chapter 68, pp. 4-5,^[2]

     I was resolved to decline all imitations for the future, and stick to the original, uncouth as it might be. Better, thought I, to be naturally clownish, than affectedly ridiculous […]

   • 1818, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, London: John Murray, Volume 1, Chapter 8, p. 114,^[3]

     Her manners shewed good sense and good breeding; they were neither shy, nor affectedly open […]

   • 1915, Joseph Conrad, Victory, New York: Modern Library, 1921, Chapter 7, p. 57,^[4]

     Schomberg turned up, yawning affectedly, almost before Davidson had regained his seat.

2. (obsolete) Lovingly; with tender care.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “A Lover’s Complaint,”^[5]

     […] letters sadly penn’d in blood,

     With sleided silk feat and affectedly

     Enswathed, and seal'd to curious secrecy.

   • 1628, John Earle, Micro-cosmographie, or, A Peece of the World Discovered; in Essayes and Characters, London: Edward Blount, 55. “A stayed Man,”^[6]

     One not hasty to pursue the new Fashion, nor yet affectedly true to his old round Breeches.

3. (obsolete) With intention, intentionally, deliberately.
   • 1655, Inigo Jones, The Most Notable Antiquity of Great Britain, Vulgarly Called Stone-Heng on Salisbury Plain Restored, London: Daniel Pakeman, p. 10,^[7]

     […] the Excelsi or high places mentioned in the sacred Story, wherein the Heathen performed idolatrous rites unto their Idols, were commonly groves, affectedly sited upon some mountainous place, without any House or Temple.

   • 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, London: Thomas Basset, Book 4, Chapter 10, p. 314, note ?,^[8]

     I have affectedly made use of this measure here […] because, I think, it would be of general convenience, that this should be the common measure in the Commonwealth of Letters.

Related terms

• affect
• affectation

Translations

English

Etymology

Use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak (“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næk/
• Audio (UK)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

knack (plural knacks)

1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. [from 1580]

   Synonyms: skill, facility, dexterity

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 254a.

     The sophist runs for cover to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
2. A petty contrivance; a toy.

   Synonyms: plaything, knickknack, toy

3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity. [from mid 14th c.]

   Synonyms: trick, device

Derived terms

• knackless

Translations

Verb

knack (third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

1. (obsolete, Britain, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
2. To speak affectedly.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References