affected area

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The part of a body, place or system that has been harmed or changed by something such as injury, disease or disaster.

   Grammar: Countable, with the: apply cream to the affected area.

   Apply the cream to the affected area twice a day.

   Rescue teams reached the affected area by boat.

   The affected area on the leaf turned brown and dry.

2. 2nouncountablecomputing

   The specific section of a computer system, document or process that a problem touches.

   Grammar: Often used in reports about problems: the affected area was patched.

   Engineers isolated the affected area of the network.

   Please list the affected areas of the contract in your reply.

Word forms

Common combinations

apply to the affected area

Gently apply the gel to the affected area.

clean the affected area

Clean the affected area before putting on a bandage.

evacuate the affected area

Officials evacuated the affected area before the flood arrived.

avoid the affected area

Drivers were told to avoid the affected area.

a large affected area

The fire left a large affected area across the hills.

Synonyms and how they differ

damaged area

This stresses physical harm, while affected area can include milder changes.

problem area

This is informal and points to a trouble spot, not necessarily the harmed part.

disaster zone

This is a larger region hit by catastrophe, not a small body part or section.

impact zone

This is more technical and often refers to the place of a collision or event.

Opposites

Word family

affect verb

to have an influence on something

affected adjective

influenced or harmed

unaffected adjective

not changed or harmed

area noun

a region or part

Commonly confused: affected area or effected area?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “affected area”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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