state of affairs

Other forms: states of affairs

Definitions of state of affairs

1. noun

   the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
   “wondered how such a state of affairs had come about”

   synonyms: situation

   types:

   absurd, the absurd

   a situation in which life seems irrational and meaningless

   acceptance

   the state of being acceptable and accepted

   ballgame, new ballgame

   a particular situation that is radically different from the preceding situation

   challenge

   a demanding or stimulating situation

   childlessness

   the condition of being without offspring

   complication

   a situation or condition that is complex or confused

   crowding

   a situation in which people or things are crowded together

   disequilibrium

   loss of equilibrium attributable to an unstable situation in which some forces outweigh others

   element

   the situation in which you are happiest and most effective

   environment

   the totality of surrounding conditions

   equilibrium

   a stable situation in which forces cancel one another

   exclusion

   the state of being excluded

   fish bowl, fishbowl, goldfish bowl

   a state of affairs in which you have no privacy

   hotbed

   a situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of something bad)

   inclusion

   the state of being included

   intestacy

   the situation of being or dying without a legally valid will

   picture, scene

   a situation treated as an observable object

   prison, prison house

   a prisonlike situation; a place of seeming confinement

   rejection

   the state of being rejected

   size, size of it

   the actual state of affairs

   square one

   the situation in which you begin an endeavor and to which you return if your efforts fail

   status quo

   the existing state of affairs

   thing

   a special situation

   congestion, over-crowding

   excessive crowding

   balance

   a state of equilibrium

   balance of power

   an equilibrium of power between nations

   dynamic balance

   (aeronautics) the state of equilibrium in which centrifugal forces due to a rotating mass (e.g., a propeller) do not produce force in the shaft and so vibration is reduced

   homeostasis

   (physiology) metabolic equilibrium actively maintained by several complex biological mechanisms that operate via the autonomic nervous system to offset disrupting changes

   isostasy

   (geology) a general equilibrium of the forces tending to elevate or depress the earth's crust

   Nash equilibrium

   (game theory) a stable state of a system that involves several interacting participants in which no participant can gain by a change of strategy as long as all the other participants remain unchanged

   poise

   a state of being balanced in a stable equilibrium

   thermal equilibrium

   a state in which all parts of a system are at the same temperature

   imbalance, instability, unbalance

   a lack of balance or state of disequilibrium

   vogue

   a current state of general acceptance and use

   acknowledgement, acknowledgment, recognition

   the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged

   approval, favorable reception, favourable reception

   acceptance as satisfactory

   acceptation

   acceptance as true or valid

   content, contentedness

   the state of being contented with your situation in life

   acquiescence

   acceptance without protest

   welcome

   the state of being welcome

   apostasy, defection, renunciation

   the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes)

   disfavor, disfavour

   the state of being out of favor

   censure, exclusion, excommunication

   the state of being excommunicated

   reprobation

   rejection by God; the state of being condemned to eternal misery in Hell

   embrace

   the state of taking in or encircling

   encompassment

   including entirely

   Coventry, banishment, ostracism

   the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent)

   debarment

   the state of being debarred (excluded from enjoying certain possessions or rights or practices)

   circumstance, context, setting

   the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event

   ecology

   the environment as it relates to living organisms

   background, scope, setting

   the state of the environment in which a situation exists

   home

   an environment offering affection and security

   milieu, surroundings

   the environmental condition

   area, arena, domain, field, orbit, sphere

   a particular environment or walk of life

   street

   the streets of a city viewed as a depressed environment in which there is poverty and crime and prostitution and dereliction

   type of:

   state

   the way something is with respect to its main attributes