favourite

• favorite (US)

Attested from the 1580s, borrowed from Middle French favorit, from Old French favorit or Italian favorito (“favoured, favourite”), past participle of Italian favorire (“to favor”), from favore, from Latin favor (“good will, favor”), from the verb faveō (“I favour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Doublet of favori.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪv.ɹɪt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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favourite (comparative more favourite, superlative most favourite or favouritemost or (nonstandard) favouritest) (British, Ireland, Commonwealth)

1. (superlative) Most-liked. (In other words, [person]'s favorite [noun] = the [noun] that [person] likes the most.)

   Antonyms: least favorite, unfavourite, unfavorite

   This is my second favourite occupation.

   I just saw a movie with all my favourite actors in it.

   • 2004, Brigid Lowry, Guitar Highway Rose:

     The Nanny is one of Pippa's favourite shows, but tonight the pleasure of mindlessly blobbing out in her usual Sunday-laid-back-luxury style...

   • 2015 July 9, Hadley Freeman, “Paul Rudd on Ant-Man, being Hollywood’s go-to nice guy and growing up with English parents in Kansas”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Then there are the characters Rudd describes as “the full-on buffoons”, such as reporter Brian Fantana in Anchorman, who gives names to his testicles and – still my favourite Rudd performance – Andy the obnoxious summer camp counsellor in cult 2001 comedy Wet Hot American Summer, which is being revived on Netflix this summer, in which Rudd will co-star alongside original cast members including Poehler and Bradley Cooper.

2. (positive, high-register or archaic) Liked, cherished.
   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter VII. Mr. Lovelace. In Continuation.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume V, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 87:

     What joy has this dog in miſchief!—More than I can have in the completion of my moſt favourite purpoſes!

In mainstream current usage, favourite functions as a superlative adjective,^[1] even though it is not morphologically superlative—in so far as it lacks a corresponding positive form meaning 'liked' nor comparative form meaning 'more liked'. This is reflected in the direct antonym being least favourite (which is transparently superlative), as well as in the fact that the phrase "more favourite" is rare outside second-language or high-register usage, and would indeed sound stilted to some native speakers.

favourite (plural favourites) (British, Ireland, Commonwealth)

1. A person or thing who enjoys special regard or favour.

   Antonyms: unfavourite, unfavorite

   The teacher's favourite always went first.

2. A person who is preferred or trusted above all others.

   Synonym: top dog (most preferred)

   Synonym: darling (most loved)

3. A contestant or competitor thought most likely to win.

   You were my favourite to win the spelling competition.

   She's the favourite, she'll probably be elected.

   • 2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0 – 1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport‎^[2], archived from the original on 4 November 2016:

     Netherlands, one of the pre-tournament favourites, combined their undoubted guile, creativity, pace and attacking quality with midfield grit and organisation.

4. (Internet) A bookmark in a web browser.
5. (in the plural) A short curl dangling over the temples, fashionable in the reign of Charles II.
   • 1701, George Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair:

     the Favourites hang loose upon the Temples with a languishing Lock in the middle

favourite (third-person singular simple present favourites, present participle favouriting, simple past and past participle favourited) (British, Ireland, Commonwealth)

1. To favour.
2. (Internet) To bookmark.
3. (Internet) To add to one's list of favourite items on a website that allows users to compile such lists.

   Antonyms: unfavourite, unfavorite

• fave

• → Japanese: ふぁぼ