favorite
Americannoun
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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.
On a recent day outside of the Apple Pan burger joint — a Krug favorite — Michel, Greenberg and Sugerman, all nearly halfway into their 70s, litigated Feeney history:
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
Summer TV this year has all that—and more, including a new version of an old favorite and a grimy murder mystery.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026
Hilton opened up about the unique space in a candid 2025 interview with The Times, when she was asked all about her spending habits, her favorite fashion items, and her biggest regrets.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 24, 2026
“That was a good call. They ended up being two of my favorite songs on the record.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2026
Creeping low, out of sight of snooping binoculars, Nim jumped into the tidal pools and snatched up armfuls of the iguanas’ favorite seaweed.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Definitions 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.
