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.
See Examples For:
Carter Wallace has a favorite bit of sign language.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
As the number of reported infections continued to rise and fears over our favorite seasonal eats reached a fever pitch, the exact source of the outbreak remained a mystery.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Then he sent me home with two bottles of his favorite sauce—one spicy, one sweet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
A peek into the future of restaurant reservations: If you’re making plans for a fancy dinner this weekend, take note: A big “upgrade” is coming to your favorite restaurants—to diners’ detriment.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
He stoked the spark until it blazed, then curled up in bed with a cup of tea and a book: his favorite story, though the final page was ripped out.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Since then several teams made pitches for his services, with the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves considered favorites.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
All these years later the story is still one of my favorites – as resplendent as it was the first time, and more necessary than ever.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
In Homer’s original poem, the gods hold meetings, argue, play favorites and meddle so routinely in human affairs that Athena is practically a second protagonist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Goldman Sachs’ basket of retail favorites, for the first time since early May, is now underperforming the S&P 500 over 52 weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
She also dug some of the chick stuff like Dido and Faith Hill and Coldplay, but her current favorites were definitely the White Stripes, which didn’t surprise me.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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.
