Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

flair

 - 4 dictionary results

flair

[flair]
–noun
1. a natural talent, aptitude, or ability; bent; knack: a flair for writing rhymes.
2. smartness of style, manner, etc.: Their window display has absolutely no flair at all.
3. keen perception or discernment.
4. Hunting. scent; sense of smell.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < F, OF: scent, n. deriv. of flairier to reek ≪ VL *flāgrāre, dissimilated var. of L frāgrāre. See fragrant


2. chic, dash, panache, verve; oomph, pizazz.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flair
flair   (flâr)   
n.  
  1. A natural talent or aptitude; a knack: a flair for interior decorating.

  2. Instinctive discernment; keenness: a flair for the exotica.

  3. Distinctive elegance or style: served us with flair.


[Middle English, fragrance, from Old French, from flairer, to scent, from Late Latin flāgrāre, alteration of Latin frāgrāre, to emit an odor.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

flair 
c.1340, "an odor," from O.Fr. flair "odor or scent," from flairer "to smell," from L.L. fragrare "emit (a sweet) odor" (see fragrant), with shift of -r- to -l- by dissimilation. Sense of "special aptitude" is Amer.Eng. 1925, perhaps from notion of a hound's ability to track scent.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

FLAIR language
An early system on the IBM 650.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
(1995-03-17)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Search another word or see flair on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: