flavoured

flavoured — adjective

1. describes food or drink made with a named ingredient that gives it its taste, fo

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes food or drink made with a named ingredient that gives it its taste, for example chocolate flavour in a cake or lemon flavour in a candy

Example

Asher bought a box of strawberry-flavoured macarons from the bakery near the station.

compound adjective: [ingredient]-flavoured + noun

The cafe serves a popular vanilla-flavoured iced latte during the summer months.

Common collocations
  • strawberry-flavoured
  • chocolate-flavoured
  • vanilla-flavoured
  • lemon-flavoured
  • honey-flavoured
  • rose-flavoured
  • cherry-flavoured
  • coffee-flavoured
Synonyms
  • infused

    suggests the flavour has been steeped into the food, e.g. 'herb-infused oil'; less common in everyday speech than '[ingredient]-flavoured'

Grammar Patterns

[ingredient]-flavoured + noun

be + [ingredient]-flavoured

Usage Note

In this sense, 'flavoured' is almost always joined to the name of the ingredient with a hyphen. You cannot simply say 'a flavoured cake' to mean 'a strawberry-flavoured cake' — the ingredient must be named.

Common Mistakes

I bought a flavoured cake' (when you mean strawberry-flavoured).
I bought a strawberry-flavoured cake.
Sense 1 requires naming the specific ingredient before 'flavoured'.

2. describes food or drink that has an extra taste added during preparation, rather

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes food or drink that has an extra taste added during preparation, rather than being in its plain or natural state

Example

The children prefer flavoured yogurt over the plain kind for their lunch boxes.

attributive: flavoured + noun, contrasting with 'plain'

Ife bought a bottle of flavoured sparkling water instead of still water.

Common collocations
  • flavoured yogurt
  • flavoured milk
  • flavoured water
  • flavoured syrup
  • flavoured crackers
  • flavoured popcorn
  • lightly flavoured
  • artificially flavoured
  • naturally flavoured
Synonyms
  • seasoned

    used for savoury food with added salt, herbs or spices; not used for sweet items

  • spiced

    specifically means spices like cinnamon or nutmeg have been added

  • infused

    suggests the flavour was steeped into the food; more common in cooking contexts

Antonyms
  • plain

    the most common opposite, used for yogurt, rice cakes, and other foods without added flavour

  • natural

    used on product labels to mean no artificial flavours added

  • unflavoured

    the direct negative; less common in everyday speech than 'plain'

Grammar Patterns

flavoured + noun

be + flavoured

be + flavoured with + ingredient

Usage Note

This sense contrasts with 'plain' or 'natural'. In supermarkets, 'flavoured' means the manufacturer added an extra taste — artificial or natural — so the product is not in its original plain form.

Common Mistakes

This cake is very flavoured' (to mean it tastes strong).
This cake is very flavourful.
'flavoured' means extra taste was added; 'flavourful' means the taste is strong and pleasant.
I like flavoured strawberry yogurt' (when strawberry is the flavour type).
I like strawberry-flavoured yogurt.
Use Sense 1 (hyphenated compound) when naming the specific ingredient.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

Flavoured, seasoned, spiced, and infused all describe food with an added taste, but they differ in what kind of food and how the taste is added. Flavoured is the broadest term, used for both sweet and savoury items with any added taste, whether natural or artificial (e.g., 'flavoured yogurt', 'flavoured water'). Seasoned is specifically for savoury food and refers to adding salt, herbs, or spices to improve taste (e.g., 'seasoned chicken', 'seasoned vegetables') — never used for sweet items. Spiced is a narrower category of seasoned, meaning spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or chilli have been added; it can be used for both sweet and savoury food (e.g., 'spiced apple cider', 'spiced rice'). Infused suggests that the flavour was steeped or soaked into the food over time, like tea leaves in hot water or garlic in oil (e.g., 'herb-infused olive oil'). If you simply want to say the plain version has an alternative with extra taste, use flavoured. If you want to highlight the method or type of taste, choose the more specific word.

flavoured ↗seasonedspiced ↗infused

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • flavoured with

Prepositions

Etymology

Anglo-FrenchOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'flavoured' is formed from 'flavour' (the noun meaning 'taste or smell of food') plus the suffix '-ed', which turns nouns into adjectives meaning 'having or provided with'. 'Flavour' came into English from Anglo-French 'flaur' meaning 'smell, aroma', itself from Old French 'flair' (odour or smell). The spelling varies by region: 'flavoured' in British English and 'flavored' in American English.