flair

First recorded before 1350–1400; Middle English, from French, Old French: “scent,” noun derivative of flairier “to reek,” ultimately from unattested Vulgar Latin flāgrāre, dissimilated variant of Latin frāgrāre; see origin at fragrant

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH flair

flair , flare

Words nearby flair

flag-waver, flag-waving, Flaherty, flail, flailing, flair, flak, flake, flakeboard, flakelet, flake out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use flair in a sentence

Others have studied and written about 20th-century American music with punch and flair, but nobody has done it like Peter Guralnick.
He’s reported on music’s legends. Now Peter Guralnick is letting himself slip into the story.|Geoff Edgers|November 29, 2020|Washington Post
Both systems add a little bit of visual flair when you look at them from an angle.
Xbox Series X/S vs. PlayStation 5: Our launch-month verdict|Ars Staff|November 22, 2020|Ars Technica
Combined with Carlino’s knack for bringing flair to middle America, Penn National became an enormously successful company.
Valuation: Casino stocks got clobbered by COVID-19. This one is now an attractive bet|matthewheimer|October 18, 2020|Fortune
Signature cocktails are part of a restaurant or bar’s personality and flair.
Bar Rescue: Pandemic Edition|jakemeth|September 15, 2020|Fortune

Liam Hemsworth plays the rugby star who helps Tilly figure out the family secret and Hugo Weaving plays a cross-dressing police sergeant with a flair for couture.
FROM THE VAULTS – Straight, but not narrow|Brian T. Carney|September 11, 2020|Washington Blade
To add to the conspiratorial flair, they added that the DA told them not to talk to the FBI or the CIA either.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“They are motivated by insecurity, fear, lack of imagination and above all, a lack of flair,” he said.
Mike Leigh Is the Master Filmmaker Who Hates Hollywood|Nico Hines|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So far Murdoch has not shown the same flair in his digital enterprises as he has with print.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror Machine|Clive Irving|August 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, is the latest in a series of Hollywood films with what you might call a transhumanist flair.
On Transhumanism and Why Technology Is Our Silicon Nervous System|Jason Silva|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She does not shy from a fight, and she has a flair for political theater to make Ted Cruz envious.
When Wendy Davis Was a Republican|Michelle Cottle|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ayant flair, il distingue hardiment entre un opportuniste et un radical.
Instigations|Ezra Pound
It is here that the teaching of the critic comes in, with the flair of the actor-manager.
The English Stage|Augustin Filon
And she had by now developed a kind of flair in the woods, which was the astonishment of Captain Dell, himself no mean forester.
Elizabeth's Campaign|Mrs. Humphrey Ward
Her tact, her diplomacies, her flair for engrafting herself, would be the very best support to his direct methods of assault.
The Readjustment|Will Irwin
Mrs. Forrester had a flair for genius and needed no popular accrediting to make it manifest to her.
Tante|Anne Douglas Sedgwick

British Dictionary definitions for flair (1 of 2)

flair¹

/ (flɛə) /

noun

natural ability; talent; aptitude

instinctive discernment; perceptiveness

stylishness or elegance; dashto dress with flair

hunting rare

the scent left by quarry
the sense of smell of a hound

Word Origin for flair

C19: from French, literally: sense of smell, from Old French: scent, from flairier to give off a smell, ultimately from Latin frāgrāre to smell sweet; see fragrant

British Dictionary definitions for flair (2 of 2)

flair²

/ (flIr) /

noun

a Scot word for floor

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012