I. fa ‧ vou ‧ rite 1 S3 W3 BrE AmE British English , favorite American English /ˈfeɪv ə rət, ˈfeɪv ə rɪt/ adjective [only before noun]
1 . your favourite person or thing is the one that you like the most:
a child’s favourite toy
What’s your favourite colour?
a favorite spot for picnickers
2 . favourite son a politician, sports player etc who is popular with people in the place that they come from
II. favourite 2 BrE AmE British English , favorite American English noun [countable]
1 . something that you like more than other things of the same kind:
Can we have strawberries? They’re my favourite.
an old/firm/particular favourite
a sweater that’s an old favorite
favourite with
Dahl’s books are firm favourites with children.
2 . someone who is liked and treated better than others by a teacher or parent:
You always were Dad’s favourite.
play favorites American English (=treat one person better than others)
The manager insisted he doesn’t play favorites.
⇨ ↑ favouritism
3 . the team, player etc that is expected to win a race or competition
favourite to do something
Italy were the favourites to win the World Cup.
He was the hot favourite for the Booker Prize.