favorite
Americannoun
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favorites
plural
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a person or thing regarded with special favor or preference.
That song is an old favorite of mine.
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Sports. a competitor considered likely to win.
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a person or thing popular with the public.
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a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, official, etc..
favorites at the court.
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Digital Technology. bookmark.
adjective
Usage
Spelling tips for favorite The word favorite is hard to spell for two reasons. First, in British English it is spelled with a u (favourite), unlike the American English spelling favorite. Second, the final e is silent. How to spell favorite: When you do someone a favor, you don't do it for yourself. So, there is no u in favor. Now that we have the beginning of the word down, how do we remember the e in -ite? Well, it wouldn't be anything without an Ending (an e at the end). Put the two together and you get favorite.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of favorite
First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle French, from Italian favorito, “favored,” past participle of favorire “to favor, support,” from favore “favor, goodwill”; see favor, -ite 2
Explanation
Your favorite is what you like best. Your room is probably painted your favorite color, and the folders you carry to school are probably that color too. In a competition, the favorite is the one considered likely to win. If you bet on the favorite in a horse race, you're betting on the horse lots of other people think will win. The opposite of the favorite is the dark horse, or the underdog, or the long shot. You may have a favorite recipe, a favorite Web site, a favorite pastime, a favorite anything.
Vocabulary lists containing favorite
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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"Crittercam to the Rescue"
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"I Remember"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To celebrate Slate’s 30th anniversary, Dahlia revisited the theory with longtime Slate favorite June Thomas for a special Plus-only episode of Amicus.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Great Writers” paints portraits of the mewling kittens, dexterous mousers and lazy lap cats who happen to have witnessed the birth of some of humanity’s favorite texts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
I think the Egyptian is probably my favorite movie theater in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The issue is a favorite topic on social media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
She poured a mug of water from her favorite blue bottle, brushed her teeth above a clump of grass that needed the spit, and started her chores.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
As the book moves across history and demonstrates how the internet has completely upended the binary, they also show what hasn’t changed about the way fans relate to their favorites.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Arts Center, another local venue, regularly shows B-list cult favorites as part of its Friday Night Weird series.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
I’ll be sharing some of my favorites over the coming weeks, but a pot of soup in the fridge can quietly carry several lunches without asking much of you.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
She didn’t protest; she simply sang what she wanted anyway: classical favorites such as Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and spirituals including “Heav’n, Heav’n.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
One of our favorites was to ride the streetcars that traversed the city.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
