flavour

UKFLAY-vuh/ˈfleɪvə/FLAY-ver/ˈfleɪvɚ/

Pluralflavours

Verbflavours, flavouring, flavoured

US spellingflavor

9 meanings of flavour

Practice

1
tastenouncountable or uncountable
How something tastes, especially the taste and the smell together.
The soup had lots of flavour once she added the herbs.
When you have a cold, food has less flavour because you can't smell it properly.
UsageSay food has lots of flavour, or it has a strong flavour.
Similartaste
2
taste varietynouncountable or uncountable
One of the different tastes that a food, sweet or medicine can come in.
What flavour of crisps do you want, cheese and onion or salt and vinegar?
The shop on the seafront sells ice cream in twenty flavours.
UsageThings come in different flavours. You ask what flavour someone wants.
Similarvariety
3
typical qualitynouncountable or uncountable
The special quality or feeling that something has.
The narrow old streets give the town a French flavour.
These photos give you a flavour of life on the farm.
UsagePeople often say give a flavour of something, or a French flavour.
Similarfeel, character
4
add tasteverbtransitive
To give something a certain taste by adding something else to it.
She flavours the rice with lemon and garlic.
You can flavour the cake with a little orange juice.
UsageYou flavour food with something. Food can be lemon-flavoured.
Similarseason, spice
5
added substancenouncountable or uncountable
Something added to food or drink to give it a certain taste.
This drink has no artificial flavours.
The factory adds banana flavour to the milk.
UsageOn food labels you see artificial flavours. Flavouring means the same.
Similaressence
6
kindnouncolloquialfigurativelycountable
One kind or type of something, among others of the same sort.
My brother's politics are a very different flavour from mine.
The software comes in lots of flavours, so you can choose the one you like.
UsageSay a flavour of something, or it comes in many flavours.
Similarversion, variety, kind, type, sort

Less common meanings

7
smellnounarchaiccountable or uncountable
The smell of something, often a pleasant one.
Note
8
noun
In physics, any of the six kinds of quark or the six kinds of lepton, which are very tiny particles.
9
nounslang
In hip-hop slang, style, especially the way a performer does things.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of flavour apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From an Old French word meaning 'smell', which came from a Latin word meaning 'to blow'. In Middle English it first meant a smell.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Flavour comes from an Old French word meaning smell. en.wiktionary.org
The Old French word ultimately came from a Latin word meaning to blow. en.wiktionary.org
The word originally meant a smell in Middle English. en.wiktionary.org