flavor
Americannoun
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taste, especially the distinctive taste of something as it is experienced in the mouth.
-
a substance or extract that provides a particular taste; flavoring.
- Synonyms:
- seasoning
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the characteristic quality of a thing.
He captured the flavor of the experience in his book.
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a particular quality noticeable in a thing.
language with a strong nautical flavor.
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Physics. any of the six labels given to the distinct kinds of quark: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top.
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Archaic. smell, odor, or aroma.
verb (used with object)
Synonym Usage
See taste.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of flavor
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French fla(o)ur, from unattested Late Latin flātor “stench, breath,” alteration of Latin flātus a “blowing, breathing,” ( see flatus), perhaps with -or of fētor fetor
Explanation
Flavor is the way something tastes. If an ice cream shop offers 50 flavors, each one of them will taste different. The flavor of your soup can be adjusted by adding salt — and when you add ingredients to change a food's taste, you can say you flavor it. From the flavor of food comes the sense of flavor meaning "atmosphere" or "feeling." You could say, for example, that you're not crazy about a particular clothing shop because it has such a glitzy, expensive flavor. Flavor initially meant "smell," from the Vulgar Latin flator, "odor."
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.
In our current everyone-with-a-phone-is-a-critic culture, this may sound like a particular flavor of zany.
From Salon • Jul. 5, 2026
The flavor is just insane, and we think about how good they are all the time.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
The announcement could help Philip Morris win back market share that it has lost to competitors “with broader flavor and strength lineups,” Baptista added.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
But his younger daughter, Patita, has shown a knack for judging the broth’s flavor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
“Exactly. It has to be the perfect flavor combo. Something slightly floral.”
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
