Favorite means the thing or person you like best out of all the choices. Your favorite book is the one you'd grab first from the shelf when you want to read. Your favorite subject in school is the one where time flies by because you're so interested. Everyone has favorites: a favorite color, a favorite food, a favorite place to visit.

A teacher shouldn't have a favorite student who gets special treatment, but it's perfectly natural to have a favorite author whose books you always want to read.

You'll also see favorite used as an adjective: “Pizza is my favorite food” or “That's my favorite movie.” Sometimes people struggle to pick just one favorite, like when you can't decide between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. That's fine: you can have multiple favorites in different categories, or admit that your favorites can change over time. The book that was your favorite at age seven might be completely different from your favorite now, and both choices made sense for who you were at those moments.