flavor

/ˈfleɪvər/

/ˈfleɪvə/

Other forms: flavored; flavors; flavoring

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."

Definitions of flavor

1. noun

   the taste experience when a savory condiment is taken into the mouth
   synonyms: flavour, nip, relish, sapidity, savor, savour, smack, tang

   types:

   lemon

   a distinctive tart flavor characteristic of lemons

   vanilla

   a distinctive fragrant flavor characteristic of vanilla beans

   type of:

   gustatory perception, gustatory sensation, taste, taste perception, taste sensation

   the sensation that results when taste buds in the tongue and throat convey information about the chemical composition of a soluble stimulus
2. noun

   the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
   synonyms: feel, feeling, flavour, look, smell, spirit, tone

   types:

   Hollywood

   a flashy vulgar tone or atmosphere believed to be characteristic of the American film industry

   Zeitgeist

   the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation

   type of:

   ambiance, ambience, atmosphere

   a particular environment or surrounding influence
3. verb

   lend flavor to
   synonyms: flavour, season

   types:

   sauce

   dress (food) with a relish

   curry

   season with a mixture of spices; typical of Indian cooking

   resinate

   impregnate with resin to give a special flavor to

   spice, spice up, zest

   add herbs or spices to

   savor, savour

   give taste to

   salt

   add salt to

   ginger

   add ginger to in order to add flavor

   pepper

   add pepper to
4. noun

   (physics) the six kinds of quarks
   synonyms: flavour

   types:

   charm

   (physics) one of the six flavors of quark

   strangeness

   (physics) one of the six flavors of quark

   type of:

   form, kind, sort, variety

   a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality