Flair

How to spell flair

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flair

What does flair mean?

1. nounA natural aptitude or instinctive talent for doing something well.
2. nounDistinctive elegance or attractive style in how something is done.

Flair in a sentence

• She has a real flair for writing persuasive sales copy.

• She decorated the small flat with surprising flair.

• His flair for languages made the overseas posting easy.

• The presentation was delivered with confidence and flair.

Where does flair come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English from French in the late 1800s, where flair meant the keen sense of smell a hunting dog uses to track game. The French noun grew out of the Old French verb flairier, meaning 'to give off a smell' or 'to sniff out', which in turn traces back to the Latin fragrare, meaning 'to emit a sweet smell'; that same Latin root sits inside the everyday word 'fragrance'. From the literal idea of a dog's nose, the meaning shifted figuratively to an instinctive ability to detect or discern what is good, and then to a natural, stylish talent for something. The spelling kept the French -air ending intact rather than being anglicised, which is exactly why it is so easily confused in writing with its homophone 'flare', the burst of light or flame. Remembering the link to 'fragrance' and its French scent-tracking origin helps fix the -air spelling that distinguishes talent from a burning beacon.

How the word is built

• flair (from Old French flair: scent, ability to detect; from Latin fragrare: to smell sweetly)

Words that sound like flair

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• flare: A sudden burst of bright, unsteady flame or light, or a device that produces one as a signal.