How do you use the word "afford" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "afford": You can't afford to neglect your health. Being only a student, I can't afford to get married.

Afford Meaning

/əˈfoɹd/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious; (usually after an expression of ability, as could, able, difficult) to be able or rich enough; to spare.

verbTo offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting or expending, with profit, or without too great a loss.

Sentence Examples

You can't afford to neglect your health.

Being only a student, I can't afford to get married.

Can we afford a new car?

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

give yield

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

With such high rent, they could not ____ to buy a new car.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

I can't ____ to buy a new car right now because it's too expensive.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English afforthen, aforthen, avorthien, from earlier iforthen, iforthien, ȝeforthien, from Old English forþian, ġeforþian (“to further, accomplish, afford”), from Proto-Germanic *furþōną, from Proto-Germanic *furþą (“forth, forward”), equivalent to a- + forth. Cognate with Old Norse forða (“to forward oneself, save oneself, escape danger”), Icelandic forða (“to save, rescue”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?[…]”" — 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

"If a party member can afford the fee, then the syncophants^([sic]) will go to work." — 1981, Wizardry: A Game of Fantasy and Adventure [user manual], Ryan Press, page 19:

"Of course, no one called the fire department. No one would take on fire service fees just to save an unoccupied garage. Most of our households couldn’t afford another big bill, anyway. The water wasted on putting out the fire was going to be hard enough to pay for." — 1993, Octavia Butler, chapter 4, in The Parable of the Sower:

"Ms Camisa and her husband have had to rejig their finances to afford tuition." — 2021 November 20, “Answered prayers; Catholic schools are seeing increases in enrolment for the first time in years”, in The Economist, London, page 39:

"The percentage of nutritive elements contained in the parsnip is very small; so small, indeed, that one pound of parsnips affords hardly one fifth of an ounce of nitrogenous or muscle-forming material." — 1892, Ella Eaton Kellogg, “Vegetables”, in Science in the Kitchen: A Scientific Treatise on Food Substances and Their Dietetic Properties, Together with a Practical Explanation of the Principles of Healthful Cookery, and a Large Number of Original, Palatable, and Wholesome Recipes, Revised edition, Michigan: Health Publishing Company, page 243:

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