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  1. favorite love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. One that enjoys special favor or regard.
  2. n. One that is trusted, indulged, or preferred above all others, especially by a superior: a favorite of the monarch.
  3. n. A contestant or competitor regarded as most likely to win.
  4. adj. Liked or preferred above all others; regarded with special favor.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A person or thing regarded with peculiar favor, liking, or preference; one who or that which is especially liked or favored.
  2. n. A person who has gained the special favor of or a dominant influence over a superior by unworthymeans or for selfish purposes. Favorites of this class, both male and female, have played an important part in the history of many despotic monarchies, often controlling their destinies with disastrous and even destructive effects.
  3. n. A small curl hanging loose upon the temple: a frequent feature of a woman's head-dress in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
  4. Regarded with particular liking, favor, esteem, or preference: as, a favorite walk; a favorite author; a favorite child.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Preferred.
  2. n. Preferred one, one with special favor
  3. n. Expected or most probable to win.
  4. v. Alternative form of favor.
  5. v. Internet To bookmark.
  6. v. Internet To add to one's list of favorites on a website that allows users to compile such lists.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A person or thing regarded with peculiar favor; one treated with partiality; one preferred above others; especially, one unduly loved, trusted, and enriched with favors by a person of high rank or authority.
  2. n. obsolete Short curls dangling over the temples; -- fashionable in the reign of Charles II.
  3. n. (Sporting) The competitor (as a horse in a race) that is judged most likely to win; the competitor standing highest in the betting.
  4. adj. Regarded with particular affection, esteem, or preference

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. preferred above all others and treated with partiality
  2. n. a special loved one
  3. n. something regarded with special favor or liking
  4. adj. appealing to the general public
  5. n. a competitor thought likely to win

Etymologies

  1. From Old French favorit or favori past participle of favorir ("to favor"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Obsolete French favorit, from Old Italian favorito, past participle of favorire, to favor, from favore, favor, from Latin favor; see favor. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. top dog

equivalents (2)

Other words for ‘favorite’

  1. loved
  1. popular

antonyms (4)

Words with the opposite meaning

  1. unfavorite
  1. least
  1. l
  1. en

hypernyms (8)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. choice
  1. pick
  1. selection
  1. rival
  1. challenger
  1. competitor
  1. contender
  1. competition

same context (5)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. favourite
  1. new
  1. only
  1. popular
  1. principal

reverse dictionary (192)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. teacher's pet
  2. favorite
  3. favorit
  4. ingle
  5. isabella grape
  6. fair-haired
  7. Irish potato
  8. engle
  9. manzanita
  10. darling
  11. dilling
  12. couscousou
  13. hobby
  14. cockaleekie
  15. gum tree
  16. caddice
  17. chamois
  18. chickweed
  19. go
  20. hot
  21. jambava
  22. kisher
  23. murrnong
  24. palusami
  25. Tamara
  26. tantony pig
  27. Virginia
  28. blue-eyed
  29. bumper
  30. bunch grass
  31. mist-colored
  32. ningle
  33. one-and-thirty
  34. orange-water
  35. pekin duck
  36. pestle-pie
  37. piment
  38. plum-duff
  1. privado
  2. rollichie
  3. rosy-fingered
  4. sauerkraut
  5. shell-bank
  6. sherbet
  7. starchwoman
  8. swing-boat
  9. atole
  10. bowly
  11. white-headed
  12. wallah
  13. stomping ground
  14. Bartlett
  15. alie
  16. attole
  17. bite-sheep
  18. bull-roarer
  19. bunya-bunya
  20. cock-ale
  21. codlins-and-cream
  22. couscous
  23. crotcheteer
  24. falcon-shaped
  25. goat-chafer
  26. gracioso
  27. heliconian
  28. helops
  29. Humpty Dumpty
  30. Louvre
  31. mackerel-bait
  32. Raleigh
  33. Saint Eustatius
  34. Shah Jahan
  35. Dunfermline
  36. Gaeta
  37. Fort Lauderdale
  38. Blois
  1. Auteuil
  2. Campagna di Roma
  3. Aisha
  4. Agra
  5. prohibitive
  6. pastime
  7. nostrum
  8. agricultural ant
  9. dish
  10. Taj Mahal
  11. utnapishtim
  12. walter ralegh
  13. walter raleigh
  14. white-haired
  15. adorn
  16. noun phrase
  17. dork
  18. fave
  19. Longworth
  20. Devereux
  21. odds-on
  22. pet
  23. pac
  24. political action committee
  25. Potemkin
  26. potyokin
  27. ralegh
  28. runner bean
  29. scarlet runner
  30. scarlet runner bean
  31. shibboleth
  32. sir walter ralegh
  33. sir walter raleigh
  34. slogan
  35. upsetter
  36. comfort
  37. dismay
  38. field
  1. expound
  2. expand
  3. upset
  4. stroke
  5. Dudley
  6. hobbyhorse
  7. politician
  8. rendezvous
  9. standby
  10. english runner bean
  11. gathering place
  12. grace
  13. grigori aleksandrovich potemkin
  14. grigori potemkin
  15. grigori potyokin
  16. motto
  17. northern bobwhite
  18. ale drinker
  19. beer drinker
  20. catchword
  21. colinus virginianus
  22. favor
  23. favour
  24. milkweed
  25. minikin
  26. minion
  27. monte
  28. olla-podrida
  29. outsider
  30. ovation
  31. pleurosigma
  32. primrose league
  33. redstreak
  34. to ride a hobby
  35. ridotto
  36. saint anthony's turnip
  37. sangaree
  38. spekboom
  1. stamping ground
  2. tuna
  3. vegetable marrow
  4. white
  5. whiteboy
  6. amarantus
  7. apocalypticism
  8. bring
  9. bullfinch
  10. calecannon
  11. cat-stane
  12. cowslip
  13. diminution
  14. doryphorus
  15. Gemini
  16. gigantomachy
  17. Hamburg
  18. hare's-lettuce
  19. hobby-horse
  20. macaberesque
  21. me
  22. milking
  23. myrtle
  24. novel
  25. olla
  26. pansy
  27. political
  28. remainder
  29. cenacolo
  30. dove-weed
  31. jocko
  32. manuka
  33. pacu-grass
  34. serah
  35. tar-water
  36. tongue
  37. tree-worship
  38. tum-tum
  1. under
  2. wallflower

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. love
  1. American
  1. often misspelled
  1. relational adjective
  1. cvcvcvcv
  1. beloved

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tagging (107)

Words tagged ‘favorite’

  1. about
  2. abyss
  3. addon
  4. admire
  5. adobeair
  6. alias
  7. ambidextrous
  8. amok
  9. ampersand
  10. anomaly
  11. bevy
  12. binoculars
  13. boondocks
  14. boycott
  15. brouhaha
  16. carousel
  17. cartwheel
  18. catamaran
  19. clavicle
  20. crawdad
  21. cricket
  1. croquet
  2. crosswalk
  3. curmudgeon
  4. curriculum
  5. dandelion
  6. debacle
  7. decoupage
  8. dillydally
  9. dime
  10. discombobulate
  11. dovecote
  12. eavesdrop
  13. echoic
  14. effervescent
  15. epiphany
  16. equivocate
  17. etymology
  18. finch
  19. flimflam
  20. fluster
  21. footstool
  1. galoot
  2. gazebo
  3. haberdashery
  4. harbinger
  5. haversack
  6. heart of wordie
  7. hullabaloo
  8. juxtapose
  9. kettle
  10. lackadaisical
  11. lapel
  12. leaflet
  13. lollygag
  14. love
  15. maladroit
  16. malcontent
  17. meantime
  18. mischief
  19. moniker
  20. mummery
  21. niche
  1. obfuscate
  2. osmosis
  3. ottoman
  4. oxymoron
  5. paradigm
  6. parapet
  7. peephole
  8. persnickety
  9. phrenology
  10. polygamy
  11. poppycock
  12. preternatural
  13. qualm
  14. rabble
  15. raffle
  16. ramshackle
  17. ricochet
  18. rookery
  19. roustabout
  20. seersucker
  21. sequence
  1. sequester
  2. serendipity
  3. shellac
  4. skywalk
  5. smithereens
  6. snorkel
  7. somersault
  8. spectacle
  9. stammer
  10. stance
  11. subtle
  12. swayback
  13. tangle
  14. tawdry
  15. temple
  16. tiddlywinks
  17. tink
  18. tomfoolery
  19. trimester
  20. turmoil
  21. twig
  1. wilt
  2. wisteria

Wordmap

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Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘favorite’.

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Comments

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  • reesetee I think frindley is responding to a comment I made about 8 months ago, c_b (eighth from the bottom on this page).

    And frindley, to answer your question: I just don't like it. It has nothing to do with age; it has to do with sheer annoyance. Chalk it up to personal preference. :-) Mar 17, 2008

  • chained_bear *confused*... I don't see a comment to that effect on this page, frindley. Were you perhaps responding to something reesetee said on another page or list? You might consider putting the comment on that one instead. :) Mar 16, 2008

  • frindley Why does partying bother you reesetee? Yes, it's an example of making a verb from a noun, but it's as old as the hills (well, late 16th century in the sense of taking the part of or siding with, but at least early 20th century in the sense of giving/attending parties). Mar 16, 2008

  • reesetee Boy, I'm sure missing a lot of good local cholesterol! Never heard of a grills-with *or* a meat and three. However, I do live very close to the Land of the Cheesesteak, so I suppose I'm okay, lipid-wise. Jul 3, 2007

  • slumry Meat and three is a meal with meat and three side dishes (often including fried okra.) Restaraunts that serve such meals are also called meat and threes. Jul 2, 2007

  • arby So slumry, what is a meat and three? Do tell! Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry Hooray for Jennarenn! The favorite circle is closed, with a verb on one end and an adjective on the other. (Uh, slumry, circles don't have ends.)

    I will look for the book when I visit that area. Jul 2, 2007

  • jennarenn One of my favorite guide books is called Quests for the Holy Grill: 50 Crummy but Good Restaurants Within Rambling Range of Washington D.C. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry And those restaurants are fun to discover, too. Jul 2, 2007

  • jennarenn I love those sketchy little restaurants with good food and no atmosphere. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry I recently was in Tennessee for the first time, and learned about meat and three. I wonder how widespread that is.

    One would not want to follow a meat and three with a grills-with. I probably would be fatal. :) Jul 2, 2007

  • jennarenn As far as I know, the grills-with is a local specialty in Charlottesville, VA. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry "Grills-with." Perhaps it has not yet arrived on the west coast of the U.S yet. At any rate, I have never encountered it. I am not sure if I should look forward to its arrival or not. :) Baked Alaska always sounds good, and I think I actually tried it once. Jul 2, 2007

  • jennarenn u, the ice cream's supposed to be a surprise!!!

    slumry, you should try a grills-with. It's two scoops of ice cream on top of two grilled doughnuts. A nice transition. I'm also a fan of a baked Alaska.
    Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry You know, I have never tried it. Must put it on my to-do list. I love ice cream so much, I have never been tempted to stray from the basic product. Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee Although fried ice cream *is* mighty tasty. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry True. . .and no consequences!

    Now that is crisp. (if a joke fails, make it again until it is funny. . .) :-)

    And I did not mean fried to a crisp.

    Them emoticons is messin' with my parens, and I don't like it. Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee I vote #5. Who can argue with ice cream? ;-) Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry Pick your poison. Jul 2, 2007

  • uselessness In light of all this acceleration and multitasking, here are seven possible scenarios for the next decade:
         1. Humans seek respite by transferring their responsibilities to The Machines, which subsequently revolt.
         2. Civilization collapses and we get to experience Dark Ages II: The Sequel.
         3. People start to evolve, and with the help of medicine and technology, become transhuman cyborgs and conquer the galaxy.
         4. Global warming gets serious and distracts us from our petty little concerns. Those of us that survived the melting ice caps, that is.
         5. Jesus comes back in the nick of time and we all get to eat ICE CREAM with NO CONSEQUENCES.
         6. The terrorists win.
         7. The Matrix goes BSOD and then we're really in trouble. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry Simultaneously speeding up and multitasking--whew. How much can we expect of one person, and is it always worth it? Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee ...which ties in with my theory on why there are so many more bad/negligent/ornery drivers than ever, u. Everything *else* is speeding up, but you can only go so fast when you're driving. Unless, of course, you're on a speedway. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry I agree, it is freaky in some ways. I know that there is a lot that each of us could say about this! :-) And maybe we will, over time. Jul 2, 2007

  • uselessness For what it's worth, a lot of things are happening at an accelerated rate. It's freaky. Have you seen the global population chart that shows an exponential curve approaching nearly vertical in just the past century? I don't know what to think when I see that. Then there are concerns about the technological singularity, which is pretty staggering itself. Heck, I've heard astronomers say that the universe's expansion is speeding up too. At any rate, I've come to expect everything to happen fast these days, as just par for the course. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry It seems that verbing is quite usual. People do it all the time, and have done it in the past.

    A couple of questions are whether a particular verbification (ouch, I wish I would quit saying that) is useful, and when it is appropriate. Certainly we all have separate lexicons for informal and formal use.

    I am also interested to observe what endures in a time when words are seemingly added to the language at an accellerated rate.

    I agree with both of you that verbing is useful. Again, a lot of it is idiosyncratic. Each of us has our own preferences among verbed nouns. For instance, I can party, but I would much prefer to talk than to dialogue.
    Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee I'm pretty much with you, uselessness. Unless you're talking about "parenting," "partying," or "dialoguing." Then I'll have to plug my ears and close my eyes. Eew. Jul 2, 2007

  • uselessness I agree that verbing is a little unusual, and I share the common resistance to change. But, I don't know, it might not be all bad. The nice thing about a verbed noun is that it's fully obvious what it means. The English language is a beast, but this particular practice is intuitive enough that it might actually be an improvement... as long as the "traditional" verbs don't go away when replaced by the new ones. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry Thanks for the link.

    My guess about "verbing" is that we don't like it when it is new and unfamiliar--especially if we think there is a perfectly suitable alternative. Apparently the process is as old as the language, and I would guess that most *verbifications* (ew, ick, hold nose--not a noun from a verbed noun) fell into disuse. We recognize many as standard English, unaware of their "shady" past.

    Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee Ah, I see. Generally, I don't like "verbing" either. Have you checked out the list of words newly added to the OED? The times, they are a-changin'. Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry Yes, I noticed that after I made the note!

    I have, of course, heard it in other contexts, meaning the same thing. That is what prompted the comment.

    My tongue-in-cheek expression of "relief" referred to the fact that as far as I know, it is not yet in standard dictionaries. It would not surprise me if it is soon. Part of the fun here is watching how language evolves and seeing what endures and what does not.

    Our tastes in language are idiosyncratic, aren't they? What pleases one person is jarring to another. This just happens to be one that gets my goat. For now, I will just continue to add words to my lists of favorite words. ;-) Jul 2, 2007

  • uselessness See also favorited. Jul 2, 2007

  • reesetee Oh, I'm afraid it is, slumry, at least on Wordie. We've been "favoriting" other Wordies' lists for quite a while now. :-) Jul 2, 2007

  • slumry I am relieved to see this is not a verb--yet. Jun 30, 2007

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‘favorite’ has been looked up 3418 times, loved by 5 people, added to 21 lists, commented on 33 times, and has a Scrabble score of 14.