flair

[ flair ]

/ flɛər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flair ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a natural talent, aptitude, or ability; bent; knack: a flair for rhyming.

smartness of style, manner, etc.: Their window display has absolutely no flair at all.

keen, intuitive perception or discernment: We want a casting director with a real flair for finding dramatic talent.

Hunting. scent; sense of smell.

Nearby words

flaherty, flaherty, robert joseph, flail, flail chest, flail joint, flair, flak, flak jacket, flak suit, flake, flake out

Origin of flair

1350–1400; Middle English < French, Old French: scent, noun derivative of flairier to reek ≪ Vulgar Latin *flāgrāre, dissimilated variant of Latin frāgrāre. See fragrant

Can be confused

flair flare

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flair

“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
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
Worn singularly or layered for a more dramatic effect, the thin metal bands evoke an ethnic sort of flair.
First Knuckle Rings, Popular During the Renaissance, Return to Fashion|Misty White Sidell|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And it bespeaks a confidence and flair not often attributed to the much-maligned candidate.
Mitt's Sense of Humor, Ctd.|Justin Green|October 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST

“He had a flair for the dramatic, to be sure, but it was for more than theatrics,” Clinton said.
Richard Holbrooke's Last Mission in Afghanistan by David Rohde|David Rohde|November 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
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
In matters of personal appearance, however, Early Ann had a flair which the older woman lacked.
Plowing On Sunday|Sterling North
You see, heart counts, and sympathy, and the flair for understanding.
The Devil's Paw|E. Phillips Oppenheim
Nor had he undervalued her; he had suspected as much from the very first; connoisseur that he was, his flair had not deceived him.
Nobody|Louis Joseph Vance
If his sense of form, his flair for fatalism, still persisted, ease was out of the question and no surrogate could serve.
On the Stairs|Henry B. Fuller

British Dictionary definitions for flair (1 of 2)

flair

/ (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)

flair

/ (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

flair

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of flair

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for flair

British Dictionary definitions for flair (1 of 2)

flair

noun

Word Origin for flair

British Dictionary definitions for flair (2 of 2)

flair

noun