he said with a resigned air

Question

Example with a context:

"We, the Moldovans, have always been at a junction between different interests and have always suffered from this. It's our fate," he said with a resigned air.

I know what resigned means—it is when you unwillingly accept something you're not really happy about. The only thing that I have a problem with is how should I understand an air in this context?

Answer 1

In the context of that quote, air has the meaning of:

• 2. an impression of a quality or manner given by someone or something

So we could rephrase "...he said with a resigned air" as "...he said in a resigned manner."

In other words, the speaker says, "We, the Moldovans have always been... It's our fate," in a way that indicates his feeling/attitude of resignation.