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In the 14th century, if someone told you that you had flair (or flayre as it was then commonly spelled), you might very well take offense. This is because in Middle English flayre meant "an odor." The word is derived from the Old French verb flairier ("to give off an odor"), which came, in turn, from Late Latin flagrare, itself an alteration of fragrare. (The English words fragrant and fragrance also derive from fragrare.) The "odor" sense of flair fell out of use, but in the 19th century, English speakers once again borrowed flair from the French—this time (influenced by the Modern French use of the word for the sense of smell) to indicate a discriminating sense or instinctive discernment.
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Examples of flair in a Sentence
Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 4 Nov. 2024
Briseno recommends wearing pieces like A-line skirts adorned with floral patterns, flounce sleeves, which pay homage to traditional Mexican craftsmanship and shirts with Peter Pan collars, which give a charming vintage flair to your look.
—Nadja Sayej, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
Trump, the reigning virtuoso of attention-hacking, seems destined to keep repeating the same leaden anecdotes about shark attacks and long-dead celebrities, but Carlson has an appetite for new information and a flair for verbal dexterity.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024
Even Winston Churchill, who developed a flair for painting in the South of France, fell for the charms of this fairytale hamlet: it is widely believed that a canvas depicting a street corner with a fountain was painted by the statesman here in the mid-1940s.
—Alexandra Zagalsky, theweek, 1 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Flair.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flair. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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flair
noun
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