The phrases “all-time favorite” and “all times favorite” may look similar, but only one is considered correct in standard English. Many writers, students, and English learners become confused when describing something they love more than anything else over a long period. Should you say, “This is my all-time favorite movie,” or “This is my all times favorite movie”? Understanding the difference can help you write and speak more naturally.
The correct phrase is “all-time favorite.” It refers to something that you consider your favorite compared with everything else throughout your life, history, or a very long period. For example, you might say, “The Godfather is my all-time favorite movie,” or “Pizza is my all-time favorite food.” In both sentences, the speaker means that among all the movies or foods they have experienced, this particular one holds the highest position.
“All times favorite” is generally incorrect in standard English. Although someone might accidentally use this phrase, native speakers normally do not say it this way. The confusion often happens because people understand “all time” as meaning every period or every moment and assume that adding an s makes sense. However, English idioms and compound modifiers do not always follow the patterns learners expect.
The expression “all-time” works as a compound adjective when it appears before a noun. A compound adjective consists of two or more words that work together to describe another word. In “all-time favorite,” the compound adjective “all-time” describes the noun “favorite.” The hyphen connects the words and shows that they function together as one descriptive unit.
All-Time Favorite or All Times Favorite: The Quick Answer
All-time favorite is the correct standard expression.
All-time functions as an adjective meaning something like “best ever” or “among the best across the whole period being considered.” Merriam-Webster defines all-time as an adjective referring to all time up to the present, especially something that exceeds others of its kind. Cambridge similarly defines it as describing the highest, lowest, best, or similar level that has ever existed.
Here’s the basic difference:
| Expression | Correct? | Explanation |
| all-time favorite | ✅ Yes | Standard English expression |
| all times favorite | ❌ No | Incorrect construction for this meaning |
| all time favorite | ⚠️ Less standard | Usually written all-time favorite in edited English |
| favorite of all time | ✅ Yes | Correct alternative construction |
So, if you’re writing an essay, blog post, email, school assignment, article, or professional document, choose all-time favorite.
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The easiest example
Chocolate cake is my all-time favorite dessert.
Here, all-time tells you that chocolate cake ranks above the speaker’s other dessert choices across the relevant span of time.
What Does “All-Time Favorite” Mean?
An all-time favorite is a person, thing, activity, place, or experience that someone considers one of their very best favorites.
In everyday English, it often means your favorite ever.
For example:
- “That’s my all-time favorite song.”
- “She’s my all-time favorite actress.”
- “This is one of my all-time favorite books.”
- “Pizza is still my all-time favorite food.”
- “That remains my all-time favorite vacation.”
The phrase doesn’t necessarily mean that you have formally compared every possible choice throughout history. It usually expresses a strong personal judgment.
If someone says, “That’s my all-time favorite movie,” they aren’t claiming to have watched every movie ever made. They’re saying that, among the movies they know and remember, that one stands at the top.
Definition of “All-Time”
The adjective all-time refers to the entire period relevant to a comparison.
Cambridge gives examples such as all-time high, all-time low, and all-time best. Merriam-Webster likewise defines the term as something belonging to or covering all time up to the present, particularly something that surpasses others.
Think of it as looking across a very large timeline.
Past ─────────────── Present
| |
└────── all-time ──────┘
↓
best/favorite
That’s why these expressions work:
- all-time favorite
- all-time best
- all-time record
- all-time high
- all-time low
The idea is consistent: the comparison covers the whole relevant period.
Why Is “All-Time Favorite” Hyphenated?
The hyphen is one of the main reasons people hesitate over this phrase.
The short answer is simple: all-time is an established compound adjective.
A compound adjective contains two or more words that work together to describe something. The hyphen signals that the words belong together as a single descriptive unit.
Consider:
my all-time favorite song
The words all-time work together before favorite.
The structure can be understood like this:
all + time → all-time → modifies “favorite”
That small mark prevents the reader from treating all and time as unrelated words.
The Hyphen Makes the Relationship Clear
Hyphens often act like little grammatical bridges. They tell the reader, “Treat these words as one unit.”
Compare these familiar expressions:
- well-known author
- high-speed train
- long-term plan
- full-time employee
- all-time favorite
The words inside each compound work together to provide a particular meaning.
The Chicago Manual of Style discusses compound modifiers and notes that hyphenation can clarify compounds that function together before a noun.
Microsoft’s style guidance also points writers toward dictionaries and established style references when deciding how common compounds should be hyphenated.
Why “All-Times Favorite” Doesn’t Work
The problem isn’t simply the missing hyphen.
The bigger problem is the word times.
In all-time favorite, time belongs to the established compound all-time.
Changing it to times creates a different grammatical structure:
❌ all times favorite
English doesn’t normally use all times as the modifier in this expression.
That’s why the correct form isn’t merely:
❌ all times favorite
It also isn’t:
❌ all-times favorite
The standard form is:
✅ all-time favorite
All-Time Favorite vs. All Times Favorite
Let’s put the two forms side by side.
| Feature | All-Time Favorite | All Times Favorite |
| Standard English | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Uses singular “time” | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Uses established compound “all-time” | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Standard hyphenation | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Natural in American English | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Appropriate for formal writing | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Meaning | Favorite across the relevant period | Does not express the intended standard meaning |
The answer is therefore straightforward:
Use all-time favorite. Avoid all times favorite.
Why “All Times Favorite” Is Incorrect
The plural times changes the meaning and structure of the expression.
The noun time can refer to a period or an occasion. When you say times, you’re usually talking about multiple occasions, periods, or instances.
For example:
- “There were difficult times.”
- “At all times, remain alert.”
- “The service operates at all times.”
- “We met several times last year.”
In these examples, times has its normal plural meaning.
But all-time favorite doesn’t mean “favorite during all occasions.”
It means something closer to:
favorite across the entire period considered
That’s a completely different idea.
Compare the Structures
Correct:
This is my all-time favorite book.
Different expression:
Please keep the door locked at all times.
The first uses all-time as an adjective.
The second uses all times as part of a prepositional phrase.
Those structures shouldn’t be mixed.
Is “All Time Favorite” Correct?
You may also see this version:
all time favorite
It appears frequently in informal writing, online posts, comments, captions, and search queries.
However, all-time favorite is the better choice in polished writing.
The established dictionary form is all-time, and both Merriam-Webster and Cambridge list it as a hyphenated adjective.
So the preferred form is:
✅ my all-time favorite movie
Rather than:
⚠️ my all time favorite movie
Why Do People Drop the Hyphen?
There are several practical reasons.
First, people don’t hear punctuation when they speak. Someone might say:
“That’s my all-time favorite song.”
When you hear the phrase aloud, there’s no audible hyphen.
Second, informal digital writing often removes punctuation. Text messages, comments, social media posts, and quick notes don’t always follow formal editorial conventions.
Third, people sometimes treat familiar compounds as ordinary word groups. English has many compounds whose spelling isn’t obvious from pronunciation.
Still, informal usage doesn’t automatically establish the preferred written form.
If you’re aiming for clean, standard English, write:
all-time favorite
All-Time Favorite vs. Favorite of All Time
There is another perfectly correct way to express the same basic idea:
favorite of all time
This version is especially common when the phrase appears after the noun.
Compare:
This is my all-time favorite movie.
and:
This is my favorite movie of all time.
Both are natural.
Both communicate that the movie ranks as the speaker’s favorite across the relevant span of time.
Merriam-Webster defines of all time as an idiom referring to something that has ever lived or existed. Cambridge gives the same general sense, with examples such as “the greatest singer of all time.”
The Difference Is Mainly Structure
| Expression | Structure | Example |
| all-time favorite | Compound adjective + noun | My all-time favorite movie |
| favorite of all time | Noun + phrase | My favorite movie of all time |
The first version is compact.
The second version spells the idea out more fully.
Which One Sounds More Natural?
Both sound natural in American English.
Use all-time favorite when you want a compact expression:
“She’s my all-time favorite singer.”
Use favorite of all time when the longer construction fits the sentence better:
“She’s my favorite singer of all time.”
Neither one is inherently superior.
The key is to use the structure correctly.
All-Time vs. All Time: What’s the Difference?
This is where the confusion gets more interesting.
Although all-time and all time look nearly identical, they don’t always serve the same grammatical role.
All-Time
All-time is a compound adjective.
It commonly appears before a noun:
- all-time favorite
- all-time record
- all-time high
- all-time low
- all-time best
Examples:
The company reached an all-time high.
She became the team’s all-time leading scorer.
That remains my all-time favorite book.
Cambridge specifically labels all-time as an adjective and notes that it appears before nouns in expressions such as “all-time high” and “all-time low.”
All Time
All time can appear as two separate words in other grammatical structures.
For example:
This is the greatest movie of all time.
Here, all time isn’t functioning as the compound adjective all-time.
The phrase of all time is a separate construction meaning something like “ever.”
A Simple Test
Look at what comes immediately after the phrase.
If you’re using it as an established modifier before a noun, all-time is often the right form:
an all-time record
my all-time favorite
If you’re using the expression of all time, leave it open:
the greatest movie of all time
This distinction will solve most cases.
All-Time Favorite as an Adjective and Noun Phrase
There’s a subtle point worth understanding.
In:
my all-time favorite movie
the word favorite functions as an adjective describing movie, while all-time modifies favorite as part of the larger expression.
The basic structure is:
my + all-time + favorite + movie
But you can also say:
That movie is my all-time favorite.
Here, favorite functions as a noun. The noun movie doesn’t need to appear because the context already tells us what the speaker means.
For example:
“Which of these films do you like best?”
“The second one is my all-time favorite.”
The listener understands that favorite means “favorite movie.”
This shortened form is common and completely natural.
More Examples
Before a noun:
- my all-time favorite author
- her all-time favorite song
- his all-time favorite game
- their all-time favorite restaurant
- our all-time favorite vacation
Without the noun:
- “That one is my all-time favorite.”
- “This is easily my all-time favorite.”
- “It’s still my all-time favorite.”
The surrounding context supplies the missing noun.
Examples of “All-Time Favorite” in Real Sentences
The phrase works across many everyday subjects.
Movies and Television
“That film is my all-time favorite movie.”
“Friends remains one of her all-time favorite shows.”
“This might be my all-time favorite episode.”
The phrase fits naturally whenever someone ranks entertainment choices.
Books
“Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favorite books.”
“That novel became his all-time favorite.”
“She called it her all-time favorite story.”
Music
“That song is still my all-time favorite.”
“He listed it among his all-time favorite albums.”
“This is one of my all-time favorite bands.”
Food
“Pizza is my all-time favorite food.”
“Chocolate cake remains one of her all-time favorite desserts.”
“That might be my all-time favorite dish.”
Sports
“He’s one of my all-time favorite players.”
“That was one of the team’s all-time favorite victories.”
“She considers him her all-time favorite athlete.”
Places
“New York is one of my all-time favorite cities.”
“That beach remains one of our all-time favorite places.”
People
The expression can describe people when the context involves preference or admiration:
“She’s my all-time favorite teacher.”
“He’s one of my all-time favorite actors.”
“My grandfather was one of my all-time favorite storytellers.”
The phrase isn’t restricted to entertainment.
Common Mistakes With All-Time Favorite
Small spelling differences can create surprisingly common errors.
Here are the mistakes worth watching.
| Incorrect Form | Correct Form | What’s Wrong? |
| ❌ all times favorite | ✅ all-time favorite | “Times” doesn’t belong in the compound |
| ❌ all-times favorite | ✅ all-time favorite | The established adjective uses singular time |
| ⚠️ all time favorite | ✅ all-time favorite | Standard writing normally uses the hyphenated form |
| ❌ all-time favourites | ✅ all-time favorites | Use favorites in US English |
| ❌ all the time favorite | ✅ all-time favorite | “All the time” has a different meaning |
Mistake: Using “Times”
This is the biggest error.
❌ “That is my all times favorite song.”
Correct it to:
✅ “That is my all-time favorite song.”
Remember that time is part of the compound adjective.
Mistake: Adding an “S” to “Time”
You don’t make time plural simply because all precedes it.
Compare:
all-time favorite
with:
all times
The first is a compound adjective.
The second is a plural noun phrase.
They serve different grammatical purposes.
Mistake: Removing the Hyphen
You may encounter:
“my all time favorite movie”
The meaning remains understandable, but standard edited writing favors the established hyphenated form:
“my all-time favorite movie”
When you’re unsure, follow the dictionary entry for the established compound. Merriam-Webster and Cambridge both list all-time with the hyphen.
All-Time Favorite vs. All the Time
Don’t confuse all-time with all the time.
They look related, but their meanings are worlds apart.
All-Time
All-time describes something across the entire relevant period.
“She’s my all-time favorite singer.”
This means she ranks as the speaker’s favorite across the period considered.
All the Time
All the time means continuously, repeatedly, or very frequently.
“She listens to music all the time.”
That sentence says something happens frequently.
It doesn’t rank anything.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Phrase | Meaning | Example |
| all-time | Across the entire relevant period | my all-time favorite song |
| all the time | Continuously or frequently | I listen to that song all the time |
| all time | Often appears within phrases such as “of all time” | the best song of all time |
A useful memory trick is this:
All-time ranks. All the time repeats.
That’s not a complete grammar rule, but it’s a handy way to remember the difference.
Is “All-Time Favorite” Grammatically Correct?
Yes.
All-time favorite is grammatically correct standard English.
The expression combines the established adjective all-time with favorite. Dictionaries recognize all-time as an adjective associated with the highest, lowest, best, or similar extreme across the relevant history or period.
For example:
This is my all-time favorite book.
The grammar is straightforward:
- my = possessive determiner
- all-time = compound adjective
- favorite = adjective
- book = noun
The entire phrase all-time favorite book identifies a book that ranks as the speaker’s favorite.
Is “All Times Favorite” Ever Correct?
For the intended meaning of “favorite ever,” all times favorite is not the standard expression.
You shouldn’t use it in polished English.
Instead, choose one of these:
my all-time favorite
or:
my favorite of all time
Both are established and natural.
Why Does “All Times Favorite” Appear Online?
You might still see the incorrect form in search results, comments, social media posts, forums, or informal writing.
Language users make mistakes for many reasons.
Some writers:
- omit hyphens
- confuse singular and plural nouns
- translate expressions directly from another language
- write based on pronunciation
- assume “all” requires a plural noun
- combine two familiar expressions
The existence of an expression online doesn’t automatically make it standard English.
That distinction matters when you’re writing for school, work, publishing, or SEO content that needs clean grammar.
Is “All-Time Favorite” American or British English?
The underlying expression works in both American and British English.
The main difference appears in the spelling of favorite.
American English
all-time favorite
British English
all-time favourite
The adjective all-time remains hyphenated in both forms.
Since this article follows US English, favorite is the preferred spelling here.
Compare Other Examples
| American English | British English |
| favorite | favourite |
| color | colour |
| honor | honour |
| organize | organise |
| center | centre |
These spelling differences don’t change the basic grammar of all-time favorite.
All-Time Favorite vs. Favorite of All Time: Examples
Seeing both structures in action makes the distinction easier.
Structure One: All-Time Favorite
“This is my all-time favorite restaurant.”
“She’s my all-time favorite singer.”
“That remains his all-time favorite game.”
The compact compound appears before the noun.
Structure Two: Favorite of All Time
“This is my favorite restaurant of all time.”
“She’s my favorite singer of all time.”
“That remains his favorite game of all time.”
The second structure places of all time after the noun.
Which Is Better for Formal Writing?
Both are acceptable.
Choose based on sentence flow.
If the sentence sounds cleaner with the compound adjective, use all-time favorite.
If the longer phrase sounds more natural, use favorite of all time.
Good writing isn’t about forcing one expression into every sentence. It’s about choosing the form that communicates the idea cleanly.
“All-Time Favorite” in Questions
You can also use the expression naturally in questions.
Examples:
- “What’s your all-time favorite movie?”
- “Who’s your all-time favorite author?”
- “What’s your all-time favorite song?”
- “What’s your all-time favorite book?”
- “Who’s your all-time favorite athlete?”
- “What’s your all-time favorite meal?”
These questions are extremely common in conversational English.
Notice that the phrase remains all-time favorite, even when it appears inside a question.
A Natural Conversation
A: What’s your all-time favorite movie?
B: Probably The Shawshank Redemption. I’ve watched it several times.
A: Good choice. That’s one of my favorites, too.
The expression sounds completely natural in casual conversation.
“All-Time Favorite” in Formal Writing
Although the phrase sounds conversational, there’s nothing inherently informal about it.
You can use it in many forms of writing:
- essays
- reviews
- interviews
- articles
- biographies
- marketing copy
- personal blogs
- school assignments
- newsletters
- social media posts
The main concern is consistency and context.
For example:
“The novel remains one of the author’s all-time favorite works.”
That sentence works in formal prose.
In a more casual article, you might write:
“It’s still one of my all-time favorite books.”
Both are grammatically sound.
A Practical Case Study: Choosing the Right Form
Imagine you’re writing a movie review.
You want to say that a film is your favorite ever.
You consider three versions:
Option A
“This is my all times favorite movie.”
❌ Incorrect.
The plural times doesn’t belong in the compound.
Option B
“This is my all time favorite movie.”
⚠️ Understandable, but the standard compound form is better written with a hyphen.
Option C
“This is my all-time favorite movie.”
✅ Correct and polished.
There’s also another excellent option:
“This is my favorite movie of all time.”
✅ Correct.
The lesson is simple: when the compound appears before favorite, use all-time.
Quick Grammar Rules for All-Time Favorite
You don’t need to memorize a dozen complicated rules.
Keep these seven points in mind.
Rule One: Use “All-Time Favorite”
✅ my all-time favorite
This is the standard expression.
Rule Two: Keep “Time” Singular
✅ all-time favorite
Not:
❌ all-times favorite
Rule Three: Use the Hyphenated Compound
✅ all-time favorite
The dictionary form of the adjective is all-time.
Rule Four: Don’t Use “All Times Favorite”
❌ all times favorite
This isn’t the standard construction for expressing “favorite ever.”
Rule Five: Use “Favorite” in US English
✅ favorite
British English uses:
favourite
Rule Six: “Favorite of All Time” Is Also Correct
“That’s my favorite song of all time.”
This is a valid alternative to:
“That’s my all-time favorite song.”
Rule Seven: Don’t Confuse “All-Time” With “All the Time”
all-time favorite = favorite ever
all the time = continuously or frequently
Synonyms and Alternatives to “All-Time Favorite”
Sometimes you want to avoid repeating the same phrase.
Several alternatives can work, depending on the context.
| Alternative | Meaning or Tone | Example |
| favorite of all time | Direct equivalent | My favorite book of all time |
| favorite ever | Casual | That’s my favorite ever |
| personal favorite | Emphasizes individual preference | It’s a personal favorite |
| number-one favorite | Strong ranking | It’s my number-one favorite |
| top choice | More neutral | This is my top choice |
| ultimate favorite | Strong emphasis | That’s my ultimate favorite |
These aren’t perfect substitutes in every sentence.
For example, personal favorite doesn’t necessarily mean “favorite ever.” Someone could have many personal favorites without ranking one above everything else.
Likewise, top choice may describe a current decision rather than a lifelong preference.
So use alternatives according to meaning, not merely to avoid repetition.
Why “All-Time” Can Describe More Than Favorites
Understanding all-time favorite becomes easier when you see the broader pattern.
English uses all-time in many established expressions.
Examples include:
- all-time high
- all-time low
- all-time record
- all-time best
- all-time great
- all-time leader
- all-time favorite
The meaning shifts slightly according to the noun, but the central idea remains.
Something is being judged across the whole relevant period.
For instance:
“The company reached an all-time high.”
That means the level was higher than it had ever been before.
Similarly:
“She is my all-time favorite author.”
That means the author ranks above the speaker’s other favorites across the relevant period.
The same grammatical pattern appears in both sentences.
What Does “Of All Time” Mean?
The phrase of all time has a related but distinct structure.
It means something like ever or throughout all recorded or relevant existence.
Merriam-Webster defines the idiom as referring to something that has ever lived or existed. Cambridge likewise uses it for superlative comparisons such as “the greatest singer of all time.”
Examples include:
- greatest athlete of all time
- best movie of all time
- most successful team of all time
- largest company of all time
- favorite book of all time
Notice that of all time remains open.
You don’t write:
❌ greatest of-all-time athlete
when the standard construction is:
✅ greatest athlete of all time
The position of the phrase matters.
A Useful Comparison Table
Here’s the entire distinction at a glance:
| Expression | Correct? | Main Function | Example |
| all-time favorite | ✅ | Compound adjective expression | My all-time favorite movie |
| all times favorite | ❌ | Incorrect construction | — |
| all-times favorite | ❌ | Incorrect plural compound | — |
| all time favorite | ⚠️ | Informal/unhyphenated form | Better as all-time favorite |
| favorite of all time | ✅ | Phrase meaning favorite ever | My favorite movie of all time |
| all the time | ✅ | Means continuously/frequently | I watch movies all the time |
| all times | ✅ in other contexts | Plural noun phrase | Keep records at all times |
This table captures the key lesson:
The correct choice depends on the grammatical structure, not simply on how the phrase sounds.
FAQS
Is “all-time favorite” correct?
Yes. All-time favorite is the standard form in English. The adjective all-time describes something that ranks as a favorite across the relevant period.
Is “all times favorite” correct?
No. All times favorite isn’t the standard English expression for “favorite ever.” Use all-time favorite instead.
Should “all-time favorite” have a hyphen?
Yes. The established adjective is all-time, and dictionaries list it in that form.
Is “all time favorite” wrong?
It’s commonly understood, especially in informal writing, but all-time favorite is the preferred standard form in polished writing.
What does “all-time favorite” mean?
It means a person or thing that ranks as someone’s favorite across the relevant period, essentially a favorite ever.
What is the difference between “all-time” and “all time”?
All-time functions as a compound adjective, as in all-time favorite or all-time record. All time appears in separate constructions such as of all time.
Is “favorite of all time” correct?
Yes. Favorite of all time is a standard alternative to all-time favorite.
Can “all-time favorite” describe a person?
Yes. You can say:
“She’s my all-time favorite teacher.”
You can also use it for actors, athletes, authors, musicians, public figures, and other people you admire or prefer.
Can “all-time favorite” stand alone?
Yes.
“That movie is my all-time favorite.”
Here, favorite functions as a noun because the context makes the omitted category clear.
Is “all-time favorite” American English?
Yes. American English uses favorite. British English generally spells the word favourite.
Can I use “all-time favorite” in formal writing?
Yes. The phrase is standard and appropriate in formal and informal contexts when the meaning fits.
Is “all-time favorite” the same as “favorite ever”?
Usually, yes. Both can express a person’s strongest preference across the relevant period.
Conclusion
The difference between “all-time favorite” and “all times favorite” is straightforward once you understand how the phrase works. All-time favorite is the correct and widely accepted expression in standard English. It describes something you consider your greatest favorite throughout your life, history, or a long period of time. The phrase “all times favorite” is grammatically unnatural and should be avoided.
